GVPT100 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Anonymous 04/15/2015	She is not a good professor. The course is not a good course. The whole thing is a hell of a problem. Because of this course, I wasn't able to graduate and my life is in ruins. Now I'm in debt and no degree. The course is statistics, not politics. If you don't get a good grade, you will be kicked out of the major. I finished all my coursework for the degree except this one, but now I'm broke and I can't take it for a third time and I'm considering claiming bankruptcy or going off the grid. All because of this class and how hard she takes it. She has ruined my life.
Stella Rouse GVPT100 jmoney 11/12/2014	I created an account on this website after using it for a few years and I saw Rouse's name pop up for an upper level government class. I had the opportunity to take my first class in the government program GVPT100 with this professor. It was one of the most miserable and stressful experiences of my freshman year. It made me question my choice of being a government major at UMD. I received a C in her class after working on it for hours each week. She was extremely ineffective in teaching the lessons and the coordination between her and the TA's was horrible. I retook gvpt100 my sophmore year and received an A with a different teacher that actually taught the class. Stella's shortfalls as a professor did not just reverberate with me, but with the entire class. After teacher evaluations, when UMD allowed teachers to view them before the course ended, she scolded the class because they were overwhelming negative as the entire class with fed up with her teaching methods. How unprofessional. Moreover she refused to post the notes for a 100 level lecture and while I went to class every 9am lecture I still couldn't copy her notes and draw all of the graphs within her impossible to follow time frame. After this horrible experience with my first government class I decided to persevere and continue the major within UMD. My experiences have been great and the faculty has been exceptional in teaching the subject matter. As a student I strongly recommend you do NOT take a class with her. You will regret it and so will your GPA.
Sarah Croco GVPT100 w_l 11/19/2013	I learned a lot in this class... but it was an awful experience. Despite being a 100 level class, it is very difficult. Much harder than it needs to be. The homework assignments are VERY time consuming and extremely difficult. However, you must do well on them if you want a good grade. The exams are not bad. Make sure you understand things conceptually and you will do fine on them. Definitely do not recommend this class unless you need to take it.
Sarah Croco GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2013	Professor Croco is a good professor. GVPT100 is a terrible class. Croco goes over the essential concepts in lecture multiple times, so it's easy to figure out what's important and what will be on the exams. She also encourages students to ask questions in lecture, which was really helpful. She speaks very fast and only focussed on one of the two projector screens in a fairly large room, so that was annoying. Overall though, I thought she was good and I actually learned from her. Do not take GVPT100 if you are not a gov major. And if you are, then make sure you do every hw assignment and get a good grade on it, even if you don't understand it. This is basically a gov stat class, so be prepared for that. Also, ask a lot of questions because everything builds on what you learned previously.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/29/2012	This class is so confusing. I don't even know why it related to government. The graphs are labeled with government terms but besides that it is purely a statistics course...which sucked. There was no problem with Birnir but I had a difficult time in the class understanding how to use the software and understanding it. My suggestion is to get along with the TA and they can help you out.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2011	This GVPT 100 class is an easy A, as long as you have the right TA. My friend received 100% on the second midterm without showing up to 8 weeks of lecture after a study session with my TA. The final paper is a pain, mostly because it's like nothing you've ever done before and it is very open-ended. Birnir herself is very nice, and attempts to be engaging, but her subject is often boring so I showed up to about half the lectures.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2011	This class was so boring. I have taken STAT 100 and this GVPT (stat based) class was awful. Professor Birnir didn't explain the material well. She focused mainly on her own studies and projects. The lectures were useless and my TA admitted to my section that she grades us harshly because she thinks we didn't like her. I didn't learn anything in this class.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2011	This class is on statistics. It's all statistics. I didn't learn anything about government other than the statistics with research study. You'll get an A if you study, because the test are to the point, but it is a statistics class.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Anonymous 08/27/2011	It's upsetting that Birnir gets such a bad wrap for teaching GVPT100. The decision to make 100 a statistics based class is ultimately upon the department. Their rationale is that graduate work in government is heavily based in statistics, so undergrads need better training in that area. She's a great teacher and a very nice person. Don't hate the player hate the game.
Robert Koulish GVPT100 JoeCalderon 07/23/2011	Koulish is a Douchebag and also not to say that the class is pointless, which makes it a bad combo. The System that the class works on is total BS. This man has 8 different TAs for a class of less tham 200 students and each TA has their own philosophy which greatly differs from Koulishs. This also reflects on the way exams are graded! Koulish is a wicked man. He knows how hard it is to to come by money, but yet he makes you go out there and buy a custom book that he complied for 100 dollars when in reality you can pass the class without the Book. I can go on forever but i am sure you get the gist of it. IF YOU love yourself, you'd stay away from Koulish!
Piotr Swistak GVPT100 Anonymous 07/05/2011	I took this class freshman year.. I had a low B before the final and after the final i got a D! HATED this class. the true/false was so confusing.. I had to read the question so many times before I understood what it meant. Focuses too much on game theory. get an easier prof if you can! gvpt 100 is not supposed to be this hard!
Robert Koulish GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 06/09/2011	Koulish was a good teacher. He made what is rly a boring topic relatively interesting. That being said his lectures were really boring despite his efforts. TAs are not bad. One midterm One Final One Essay and Participation are your grades. USE GOOGLE DOCS AS A CLASS!! IT HELPS!
Robert Koulish GVPT100 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/23/2011	class was soooo boring. honestly i didn't learn jack. there was one midterm, one essay, one final. every thursday we had to email in 2 questions about lecture for our discussion section. Some genius created a google doc where everyone studied together for the midterm and final so dat made everything essay. Got on A on the essay but that's only because my TA Chris was real chill. participation is worth 20% of your grade so keep dat in mind. I would recommend the class if u get chris as a TA. Heard the Anne lady was an a*% tho.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/18/2011	NEVER TAKE BIRNIR IF YOU ARE GOV MAJOR OR JUST LOOKING FOR AN EASY CORE. THIS CLASS IS RIDICULOUS AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOVERNMENT. we did graduate level work, there was no need for this class for the major. take KOULISH if you can.
Robert Koulish GVPT100 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/13/2011	Not as great a teacher as everyone is saying. He is totally distant during lectures and packs as many run-ons as possible. He is not easy to follow. I'm a straight A student and knew the material like the back of my hand but expect a C in this class because I had a ridiculous TA. If you have Anne, switch immediately. She is insanely pen-heavy and an unfair grader. For the first exam, the average in her discussion was a C-. When the average for an exam is that low, you can only blame the students so much. There was clearly a problem. There are 2 exams. The final is cumulative. He told us the whole semester that it was non-cumulative until a few days before the exam that it was. You have discussion sections and a 6-8 paper. I would suggest taking this class with someone else.
Robert Koulish GVPT100 slam591 05/07/2011	So I had prof koulish for GVPT100 im not a huge political theory person but i took the class to get a better understanding hes a solid lecturer and what not but something about him gave me a vibe saying im a douchebag he was a dick to students sometimes the TAs were ok decently helpful but he is a pretty boting lecturer
Robert Koulish GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/21/2011	Great teacher. His lectures were interesting and enthralling. His tests were really straight forward in that he gave you the essay questions beforehand. If you do the readings and practice writing the essay questions before the exam, you will do great.
Robert Koulish GVPT100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/02/2011	most boring class ive ever taken. he was a new teacher and i absolutely hated the class. i learned nothing the entire semester but somehow memorized the important stuff and got an A. Course consists of 2 midterms, a paper, and a final. i have friends with other gvpt100 teachers and they either had one less exam or their paper was the final
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/07/2010	WARNING: THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT CLASS!!! We did not learn a single thing about american government, at all. Instead we learned how to analyze political data by running various tests and comparisons. When we should have been learning about Hobbes and Locke, we were learning how to calculate standard deviation of z-scores, how to identify skewness, and the difference between nominal, ordinal, and interval variables (this we not even the half of it). My suggestion to everyone, do not take this class unless you are interested in this form a politics or you have no other choice. If you do end up taking this class, here is what to expect: Very boring and uninteresting lectures, she tends to ramble a lot! 2 mid-terms, a final, a 10 page final paper, and at least 2 hours of homework every week. The homework uses the statistical analysis software, SPSS, which requires you to use a computer lab on campus or purchase the software yourself for about $90.00+. You will be running various statistical tests on a given set of data. It is very tedious, takes forever to do because you CAN NOT SKIM, and the homework is graded answer for answer, not just for completion. If you are lucky like me and get a really good/understanding TA, this class will not be as rough for you because the T.A's are in charge of ALL the grading for their section. If not, then be prepared to work harder than the rest of the class. Professor Birnir is very knowledgeable in this area of politics she just is not knowledgeable at all on how to convey this information to the class. So basically, you are on your own.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/15/2010	So much statistics. No actual government.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/11/2010	Birnir takes a completely different approach to GVPT100. Our class considers ourselves the "rogue" government course due to the amount of statistics we do. Yes, I said STATISTICS! We have yet to learn about a single governmental system and rarely use the word democracy in the class. The most frequented words are mean, median, and mode. Please do not take this course unless you enjoy statistics. And God help you if you have no other option...
Karol Soltan GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/17/2010	I really liked Professor Soltan's class! He made GVPT100 very easy to understand, and my TA was great too.
Karol Soltan GVPT100 Anonymous 12/13/2009	Professor Soltan is a good guy and can be entertaining at times. You don't need to go to lecture; the things he says don't follow in a clear train of thought, so it's almost impossible to take notes. He puts his own notes up before each exam and if you look at them, you'll do well. I had a good TA who made it unnecessary for me to read most of the readings, but you can do that at your own discretion. There is a generous curve and it overall is a good class.
Karol Soltan GVPT100 Anonymous 12/03/2009	Unless you are interested in the philosophical side of government, DO NOT take this class. Lectures with Professor Soltan are unbearable. While Soltan is very well educated and often funny man, he is unable to covey his ideas in an efficient manner. It’s almost impossible to follow his train of thought and translate it into coherent notes. Most times, I walked away from lecture with more questions than answers and a TON of readings. Discussions did not help much either. While I cannot speak for the other TAs, my TA struggled to communicate his ideas. In addition, the grading was extremely unclear and sometimes harsh. Grades were only given for exams and participation in discussion. Even though we got our exams back once they were graded, I could never understand the comments given or the pattern of grading. Also, the levels required to receive an A seemed impossible at best. It often felt like they were just looking for trivial bits in essays to mark you off for. Finally, the professor was extremely disorganized. He refused to use blackboard to post grades and made you reach his syllabus by Googling it. There is no doubt that Soltan is a genius when it comes to this subject, but he struggles to teach the material. As a student who was interested in the actual workings of government verses the philosophical workings of government, I was very disappointed with this chore of a class.
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/05/2009	This is a tedious class only in that you have to be an avid listener. I took notes, attended all lectures and discussions (freshman and gvpt major so I didn't know better...) The tests aren't bad, did well on the first and poorly on the second and who knows about my final and paper (research paper) because I never got them back. All depends on the TA, I ended up with a B+, spoke to the Professor and she said I should have gotten an A. If you get Benli, you better be a damn good writer and memorizer...?
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting an A dizzier 04/23/2009	Not the best class you will take. Laptops are required to stay awake, and make it easier to copy down the 7 words per slide she puts on. The material is everything that is obvious and implied but rephrased so you have to know it anyway for a test, but the tests are generally easy especially if a study guide is provided. She herself is very nice and will definitely recognize you in public.
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/03/2009	Don't worry, you don't have to think at all in this class but you better have your memorization skills up to par. Bring a laptop, I find it's easier to type exactly what she says so you can spit back verbatim on the test. Thank god she is a liberal like me! She's one of the view professors who let's her political ideology really color her lectures. Being professional is over-rated. I also loved her because unlike some professors that try to get to know their students, she really leaves that to the TAs. I find it refreshing. I would rather get to know someone my own age anyway.
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/03/2009	Outstanding speaker! Truly talented. Never before have I had a professor with such an extraordinary ability to put me to sleep. Her uncanny skill at dodging questions is astounding!and the novel-worths of notes that she rambles about in class are such profound nonsense that she's managed to used to same lectures for the past thirty years because no one can understand them. Brilliant! I never thought I'd meet a professor capable of such monotonous drivel that prompts students to audibly groan with delight (or is it pain?) every time she pulls another page of non-information from out her ass.
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/28/2008	Professor Grant-Wisdom gives a LOT of lecture notes, which can be extremely disorganized all hard to follow. The tests are almost entirely note based, so study the notes in detail and you will get A's on the tests. The material is pretty interesting, although if you are not a GVPT major, I wouldn't take the class. To do well on the tests it takes a lot of studying the detailed notes, and if you aren't interested in politics, it will be very boring.
Piotr Swistak GVPT100 Expecting an A umdttt 12/08/2008	fairly easy course. all you have to do is read the assigned texts along with the lecture notes, which are posted online, and you'll do fine on the tests. the tests are true/false/idk questions. although he has an accent, you can understand him perfectly and he is very knowledgeable.
Piotr Swistak GVPT100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/07/2008	Swistak is certainly a professor worth avoiding if you have the chance. Just reviewing his overall class GPA for GVPT100 will show you that he can be more difficult than other professors. Tests can be prepared for by taking notes on his lecture powerpoints. The test questions are often verbatim what was on the powerpoint. However, assignments were what killed me in this course. They almost certainly require the help of a TA.
Piotr Swistak GVPT100 Expecting a c Anonymous 11/26/2008	terrible class, is more of a philosophy class than anything, no one goes to lectures until test days. the tests are basically true false but really confusing. cant really understand him because his accent and most people do pretty bad, the last test avg for the class was a 65. I dont know how people like this get jobs at the university
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/02/2008	Tip: If your not a GVPT major, chances are you won't like her 100 class. If you are a GVPT major, most like this class.
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/22/2007	HORRIBLE. Notes are like foreign language. I could not understand her in class, let alone take down the MASS amount of notes that she put up on the overhead. WORST PROFESSOR I HAVE HAD YET
Dorith Grant-Wisdom GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/17/2007	She is a decently interesting professor, and her lectures are good. Some of them are boring, but she usually keeps it somewhat interesting. She can take all sides of an issue during the lectures, which creates the illusion that she is without bias (and that's good.) She can be non responsive when emailed, though, and she is not without flaws. Her exams are typical GVPT exams, but with multiple choice, too (so about 30 multiple choice, several short answer, and an essay question.)

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Anonymous
04/15/2015

She is not a good professor. The course is not a good course. The whole thing is a hell of a problem. Because of this course, I wasn't able to graduate and my life is in ruins. Now I'm in debt and no degree. The course is statistics, not politics. If you don't get a good grade, you will be kicked out of the major. I finished all my coursework for the degree except this one, but now I'm broke and I can't take it for a third time and I'm considering claiming bankruptcy or going off the grid. All because of this class and how hard she takes it. She has ruined my life.

Stella Rouse
GVPT100

jmoney
11/12/2014

I created an account on this website after using it for a few years and I saw Rouse's name pop up for an upper level government class. I had the opportunity to take my first class in the government program GVPT100 with this professor. It was one of the most miserable and stressful experiences of my freshman year. It made me question my choice of being a government major at UMD. I received a C in her class after working on it for hours each week. She was extremely ineffective in teaching the lessons and the coordination between her and the TA's was horrible. I retook gvpt100 my sophmore year and received an A with a different teacher that actually taught the class. Stella's shortfalls as a professor did not just reverberate with me, but with the entire class. After teacher evaluations, when UMD allowed teachers to view them before the course ended, she scolded the class because they were overwhelming negative as the entire class with fed up with her teaching methods. How unprofessional. Moreover she refused to post the notes for a 100 level lecture and while I went to class every 9am lecture I still couldn't copy her notes and draw all of the graphs within her impossible to follow time frame. After this horrible experience with my first government class I decided to persevere and continue the major within UMD. My experiences have been great and the faculty has been exceptional in teaching the subject matter. As a student I strongly recommend you do NOT take a class with her. You will regret it and so will your GPA.

Sarah Croco
GVPT100

w_l
11/19/2013

I learned a lot in this class... but it was an awful experience. Despite being a 100 level class, it is very difficult. Much harder than it needs to be. The homework assignments are VERY time consuming and extremely difficult. However, you must do well on them if you want a good grade. The exams are not bad. Make sure you understand things conceptually and you will do fine on them. Definitely do not recommend this class unless you need to take it.

Sarah Croco
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2013

Professor Croco is a good professor. GVPT100 is a terrible class. Croco goes over the essential concepts in lecture multiple times, so it's easy to figure out what's important and what will be on the exams. She also encourages students to ask questions in lecture, which was really helpful. She speaks very fast and only focussed on one of the two projector screens in a fairly large room, so that was annoying. Overall though, I thought she was good and I actually learned from her. Do not take GVPT100 if you are not a gov major. And if you are, then make sure you do every hw assignment and get a good grade on it, even if you don't understand it. This is basically a gov stat class, so be prepared for that. Also, ask a lot of questions because everything builds on what you learned previously.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
08/29/2012

This class is so confusing. I don't even know why it related to government. The graphs are labeled with government terms but besides that it is purely a statistics course...which sucked. There was no problem with Birnir but I had a difficult time in the class understanding how to use the software and understanding it. My suggestion is to get along with the TA and they can help you out.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2011

This GVPT 100 class is an easy A, as long as you have the right TA. My friend received 100% on the second midterm without showing up to 8 weeks of lecture after a study session with my TA. The final paper is a pain, mostly because it's like nothing you've ever done before and it is very open-ended. Birnir herself is very nice, and attempts to be engaging, but her subject is often boring so I showed up to about half the lectures.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2011

This class was so boring. I have taken STAT 100 and this GVPT (stat based) class was awful. Professor Birnir didn't explain the material well. She focused mainly on her own studies and projects. The lectures were useless and my TA admitted to my section that she grades us harshly because she thinks we didn't like her. I didn't learn anything in this class.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/02/2011

This class is on statistics. It's all statistics. I didn't learn anything about government other than the statistics with research study. You'll get an A if you study, because the test are to the point, but it is a statistics class.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Anonymous
08/27/2011

It's upsetting that Birnir gets such a bad wrap for teaching GVPT100. The decision to make 100 a statistics based class is ultimately upon the department. Their rationale is that graduate work in government is heavily based in statistics, so undergrads need better training in that area. She's a great teacher and a very nice person. Don't hate the player hate the game.

Robert Koulish
GVPT100

JoeCalderon
07/23/2011

Koulish is a Douchebag and also not to say that the class is pointless, which makes it a bad combo. The System that the class works on is total BS. This man has 8 different TAs for a class of less tham 200 students and each TA has their own philosophy which greatly differs from Koulishs. This also reflects on the way exams are graded! Koulish is a wicked man. He knows how hard it is to to come by money, but yet he makes you go out there and buy a custom book that he complied for 100 dollars when in reality you can pass the class without the Book. I can go on forever but i am sure you get the gist of it. IF YOU love yourself, you'd stay away from Koulish!

Piotr Swistak
GVPT100

Anonymous
07/05/2011

I took this class freshman year.. I had a low B before the final and after the final i got a D! HATED this class. the true/false was so confusing.. I had to read the question so many times before I understood what it meant. Focuses too much on game theory. get an easier prof if you can! gvpt 100 is not supposed to be this hard!

Robert Koulish
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/09/2011

Koulish was a good teacher. He made what is rly a boring topic relatively interesting. That being said his lectures were really boring despite his efforts. TAs are not bad. One midterm One Final One Essay and Participation are your grades. USE GOOGLE DOCS AS A CLASS!! IT HELPS!

Robert Koulish
GVPT100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/23/2011

class was soooo boring. honestly i didn't learn jack. there was one midterm, one essay, one final. every thursday we had to email in 2 questions about lecture for our discussion section. Some genius created a google doc where everyone studied together for the midterm and final so dat made everything essay. Got on A on the essay but that's only because my TA Chris was real chill. participation is worth 20% of your grade so keep dat in mind. I would recommend the class if u get chris as a TA. Heard the Anne lady was an a*% tho.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/18/2011

NEVER TAKE BIRNIR IF YOU ARE GOV MAJOR OR JUST LOOKING FOR AN EASY CORE. THIS CLASS IS RIDICULOUS AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOVERNMENT. we did graduate level work, there was no need for this class for the major. take KOULISH if you can.

Robert Koulish
GVPT100

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/13/2011

Not as great a teacher as everyone is saying. He is totally distant during lectures and packs as many run-ons as possible. He is not easy to follow. I'm a straight A student and knew the material like the back of my hand but expect a C in this class because I had a ridiculous TA. If you have Anne, switch immediately. She is insanely pen-heavy and an unfair grader. For the first exam, the average in her discussion was a C-. When the average for an exam is that low, you can only blame the students so much. There was clearly a problem. There are 2 exams. The final is cumulative. He told us the whole semester that it was non-cumulative until a few days before the exam that it was. You have discussion sections and a 6-8 paper. I would suggest taking this class with someone else.

Robert Koulish
GVPT100

slam591
05/07/2011

So I had prof koulish for GVPT100 im not a huge political theory person but i took the class to get a better understanding hes a solid lecturer and what not but something about him gave me a vibe saying im a douchebag he was a dick to students sometimes the TAs were ok decently helpful but he is a pretty boting lecturer

Robert Koulish
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/21/2011

Great teacher. His lectures were interesting and enthralling. His tests were really straight forward in that he gave you the essay questions beforehand. If you do the readings and practice writing the essay questions before the exam, you will do great.

Robert Koulish
GVPT100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/02/2011

most boring class ive ever taken. he was a new teacher and i absolutely hated the class. i learned nothing the entire semester but somehow memorized the important stuff and got an A. Course consists of 2 midterms, a paper, and a final. i have friends with other gvpt100 teachers and they either had one less exam or their paper was the final

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/07/2010

WARNING: THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT CLASS!!! We did not learn a single thing about american government, at all. Instead we learned how to analyze political data by running various tests and comparisons. When we should have been learning about Hobbes and Locke, we were learning how to calculate standard deviation of z-scores, how to identify skewness, and the difference between nominal, ordinal, and interval variables (this we not even the half of it). My suggestion to everyone, do not take this class unless you are interested in this form a politics or you have no other choice. If you do end up taking this class, here is what to expect: Very boring and uninteresting lectures, she tends to ramble a lot! 2 mid-terms, a final, a 10 page final paper, and at least 2 hours of homework every week. The homework uses the statistical analysis software, SPSS, which requires you to use a computer lab on campus or purchase the software yourself for about $90.00+. You will be running various statistical tests on a given set of data. It is very tedious, takes forever to do because you CAN NOT SKIM, and the homework is graded answer for answer, not just for completion. If you are lucky like me and get a really good/understanding TA, this class will not be as rough for you because the T.A's are in charge of ALL the grading for their section. If not, then be prepared to work harder than the rest of the class. Professor Birnir is very knowledgeable in this area of politics she just is not knowledgeable at all on how to convey this information to the class. So basically, you are on your own.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/15/2010

So much statistics. No actual government.

Johanna Birnir
GVPT100

Expecting a C
Anonymous
11/11/2010

Birnir takes a completely different approach to GVPT100. Our class considers ourselves the "rogue" government course due to the amount of statistics we do. Yes, I said STATISTICS! We have yet to learn about a single governmental system and rarely use the word democracy in the class. The most frequented words are mean, median, and mode. Please do not take this course unless you enjoy statistics. And God help you if you have no other option...

Karol Soltan
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/17/2010

I really liked Professor Soltan's class! He made GVPT100 very easy to understand, and my TA was great too.

Karol Soltan
GVPT100

Anonymous
12/13/2009

Professor Soltan is a good guy and can be entertaining at times. You don't need to go to lecture; the things he says don't follow in a clear train of thought, so it's almost impossible to take notes. He puts his own notes up before each exam and if you look at them, you'll do well. I had a good TA who made it unnecessary for me to read most of the readings, but you can do that at your own discretion. There is a generous curve and it overall is a good class.

Karol Soltan
GVPT100

Anonymous
12/03/2009

Unless you are interested in the philosophical side of government, DO NOT take this class. Lectures with Professor Soltan are unbearable. While Soltan is very well educated and often funny man, he is unable to covey his ideas in an efficient manner. It’s almost impossible to follow his train of thought and translate it into coherent notes. Most times, I walked away from lecture with more questions than answers and a TON of readings. Discussions did not help much either. While I cannot speak for the other TAs, my TA struggled to communicate his ideas. In addition, the grading was extremely unclear and sometimes harsh. Grades were only given for exams and participation in discussion. Even though we got our exams back once they were graded, I could never understand the comments given or the pattern of grading. Also, the levels required to receive an A seemed impossible at best. It often felt like they were just looking for trivial bits in essays to mark you off for. Finally, the professor was extremely disorganized. He refused to use blackboard to post grades and made you reach his syllabus by Googling it. There is no doubt that Soltan is a genius when it comes to this subject, but he struggles to teach the material. As a student who was interested in the actual workings of government verses the philosophical workings of government, I was very disappointed with this chore of a class.

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/05/2009

This is a tedious class only in that you have to be an avid listener. I took notes, attended all lectures and discussions (freshman and gvpt major so I didn't know better...) The tests aren't bad, did well on the first and poorly on the second and who knows about my final and paper (research paper) because I never got them back. All depends on the TA, I ended up with a B+, spoke to the Professor and she said I should have gotten an A. If you get Benli, you better be a damn good writer and memorizer...?

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting an A
dizzier
04/23/2009

Not the best class you will take. Laptops are required to stay awake, and make it easier to copy down the 7 words per slide she puts on. The material is everything that is obvious and implied but rephrased so you have to know it anyway for a test, but the tests are generally easy especially if a study guide is provided. She herself is very nice and will definitely recognize you in public.

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/03/2009

Don't worry, you don't have to think at all in this class but you better have your memorization skills up to par. Bring a laptop, I find it's easier to type exactly what she says so you can spit back verbatim on the test. Thank god she is a liberal like me! She's one of the view professors who let's her political ideology really color her lectures. Being professional is over-rated. I also loved her because unlike some professors that try to get to know their students, she really leaves that to the TAs. I find it refreshing. I would rather get to know someone my own age anyway.

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/03/2009

Outstanding speaker! Truly talented. Never before have I had a professor with such an extraordinary ability to put me to sleep. Her uncanny skill at dodging questions is astounding!and the novel-worths of notes that she rambles about in class are such profound nonsense that she's managed to used to same lectures for the past thirty years because no one can understand them. Brilliant! I never thought I'd meet a professor capable of such monotonous drivel that prompts students to audibly groan with delight (or is it pain?) every time she pulls another page of non-information from out her ass.

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/28/2008

Professor Grant-Wisdom gives a LOT of lecture notes, which can be extremely disorganized all hard to follow. The tests are almost entirely note based, so study the notes in detail and you will get A's on the tests. The material is pretty interesting, although if you are not a GVPT major, I wouldn't take the class. To do well on the tests it takes a lot of studying the detailed notes, and if you aren't interested in politics, it will be very boring.

Piotr Swistak
GVPT100

Expecting an A
umdttt
12/08/2008

fairly easy course. all you have to do is read the assigned texts along with the lecture notes, which are posted online, and you'll do fine on the tests. the tests are true/false/idk questions. although he has an accent, you can understand him perfectly and he is very knowledgeable.

Piotr Swistak
GVPT100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/07/2008

Swistak is certainly a professor worth avoiding if you have the chance. Just reviewing his overall class GPA for GVPT100 will show you that he can be more difficult than other professors. Tests can be prepared for by taking notes on his lecture powerpoints. The test questions are often verbatim what was on the powerpoint. However, assignments were what killed me in this course. They almost certainly require the help of a TA.

Piotr Swistak
GVPT100

Expecting a c
Anonymous
11/26/2008

terrible class, is more of a philosophy class than anything, no one goes to lectures until test days. the tests are basically true false but really confusing. cant really understand him because his accent and most people do pretty bad, the last test avg for the class was a 65. I dont know how people like this get jobs at the university

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/02/2008

Tip: If your not a GVPT major, chances are you won't like her 100 class. If you are a GVPT major, most like this class.

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/22/2007

HORRIBLE. Notes are like foreign language. I could not understand her in class, let alone take down the MASS amount of notes that she put up on the overhead. WORST PROFESSOR I HAVE HAD YET

Dorith Grant-Wisdom
GVPT100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/17/2007

She is a decently interesting professor, and her lectures are good. Some of them are boring, but she usually keeps it somewhat interesting. She can take all sides of an issue during the lectures, which creates the illusion that she is without bias (and that's good.) She can be non responsive when emailed, though, and she is not without flaws. Her exams are typical GVPT exams, but with multiple choice, too (so about 30 multiple choice, several short answer, and an essay question.)

Reviews for GVPT100