If anyone needs the coursereader, I am selling mine for best offer. **********

I thought this class was going to be fun when I enrolled which is partially true. I thought the information was interesting, but the readings were dense and the lectures were just of him rambling on and on with little focus. The lectures really deteriorated my value for this class because it was really dry and boring to hear just non-stop talking without any slides, videos, etc. It just felt like lectures were unorganized and he would wing it sometimes based on old notes because he would read many long excerpts in class. The plus side is the professor cares about everyone passing so he sends extra material such as videos to watch; I don't know why he couldn't shown some in class and debriefed about it. Lastly, the class is somewhat straight forward; just do your readings and create really good notes off of it for the exams but know that lectures are hard to go through and readings are super dense (reader also cost $100). Oh and his TA grades pretty hard

I think Professor Bell is one of the brightest academics I have ever been taught by. I do recommend doing the readings and paying attention in class and writing the terms he writes on the board. I like his lecture style of teaching , mostly technology free. He is an excellent professor who wants his students to learn, and I'd say he's also a pretty lenient grader. Would take his classes again.

First off, I want to say that Professor Bell means no harm. Now, I will get into the rest. So as an Poly Sci/IDS major I thought "How cool would it be to take a class about Brazil??". Although I have never taken any class before about South America, I thought I would truly enjoy this one. And boy, was I wrong! The word "dry" isn't "dry" enough to explain his lectures. I honestly tried to listen but after 5 minutes, I was on my laptop typing away (facebook, email, not the actual lecture). In addition to that, the reader required for this class is about a $100. Not only that is a rip-off, it is also extremely boring. Every article is about 30 to 50 pages, and you have 2 articles for each class which means 4 articles a week and about 200 pages of boring reading. On the midterm... surprise, surprise! His TA was an a-hole and graded everyone extremely hard... thankfully, most of the class was able to pull its s*** together by the final, and the others dropped. I do suggest making a study group and splitting the reading because its just too boring.

Oh, btw, I read the reviews before and I didn't think he is going to be that bad. The only person who was right is the guy right under me.

Prof. Bell is a nice professor who has a passion for Brazil and Spanish America..it's that simple. If you are whatsoever interested in these fields, by all means take him. I took his class for an IDS Major requirement, but I ended up liking his class. His lectures are a bit unorganized and his monotone voice can put you to sleep, but he has a witty sense of humor.

Make sure to read the reader and make one or two of his office hours to clarify questions for the midterm/final. More often than not, he'll give you hints on what will be covered, so you'll be extremely prepared for the exam! No excuses to do bad!

I had fairly low expectations for the class, but I came out having a greater appreciation for Brazil and its history of development.

Prof. Bell is a nice professor who has a passion for Brazil and Spanish America..it's that simple. If you are whatsoever interested in these fields, by all means take him. I took his class for an IDS Major requirement, but I ended up liking his class. His lectures are a bit unorganized and his monotone voice can put you to sleep, but he has a witty sense of humor.

Make sure to read the reader and make one or two of his office hours to clarify questions for the midterm/final. More often than not, he'll give you hints on what will be covered, so you'll be extremely prepared for the exam! No excuses to do bad!

I had fairly low expectations for the class, but I came out having a greater appreciation for Brazil and its history of development.