GVPT331 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Michael Spivey GVPT331 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/02/2024	I loved this class. Spivey gets upset when it's your day to be called and you didn't do the reading, but aside from that he's a very nice and understanding professor. Line for office hours are always out the door. Good class for people on the fence about law school.
Michael Spivey GVPT331 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/17/2024	Prof.Spivey teaches GVPT331 to be similar to law school, you'll do case readings and case hypos, and you have one discussion day in the semester where you will be cold-called in the class. Because it challenges you to handle a completely new style of learning, THIS CLASS IS HARD. If you do not have time in your schedule or do not have a real interest in law, I would not recommend this class because of the sheer workload that it requires (and most of this workload is not graded, but is necessary to do well on the exams which count for almost all of your grade in the class). If you do have the passion and the time, I could not recommend this class more. Dr.Spivey's lecture style is really fun to listen to, and you learn so much about law and what law school may look like that is really informative if you're looking into the legal field. The class is as rewarding as it is difficult. The star I took off is just because, as unique and enjoyable as this class can be it can get very disorganized. Prof. Spivey tends to underestimate the time he needs to get through content so the class can often get behind, and it may get confusing what readings you should be doing to prepare. This semester, the second exam date was also moved twice. Despite this I think this class is a one of a kind experience and Prof. Spivey is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining and impactful professors I've had at UMD.
Michael Spivey GVPT331 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/04/2024	overall: I'm a pre-law gov major and this class was very insightful and pushed me in a good way. it did have more readings then most of my other gov classes but most of the readings are pretty interesting. Spivey does a good job expanding your knowledge of topics by asking a lot of hypotheticals, but sometimes they can get hard to follow, don't worry though his crazy expanded hypotheticals are never like the questions on the exam. the class is 2 exams & 1 final. the difficulty of the exams picks up each time, but not to an insane level. I'd attend lectures to fully understand the material, but missing a few classes won't kill you. if you want to go to law school, i say take the class and give it a try. recommendations/heads up: -You have one day within the entire semester that you are assigned to speak in class so: make sure you prepare! Spivey is always a few classes behind, so if you're day is coming up just prepare the cases before & after your assigned day so that you are ready. On that day you can be asked any type of question, so do the reading unless you want to be embarrassed. -Get the textbook. There's no way around it. -Make friends within the first 2 weeks so that can split up cases for classes. It makes the readings MUCH easier. -Start studying for at least the first exam a week before so that you have time to prepare -Sometimes Spivey is late to his office hours so be prepared for that lol. -You have weekly 5 question quizzes that are low-risk but graded. I'd recommend spending 20 mins the night before just to look over your notes for the week, it helps a lot. -As long as you take notes, attend class, & study you'll be fine
Michael Spivey GVPT331 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/20/2023	He is an educated and hard-working professor, but he is not the most organized. As a gvpt major I really enjoyed the material and structure (at times) of this unique course, however the appeals process for grades was a mess. I also had to take time out of my day to appeal for my grade and usually got some points back. Additionally, the workload is a lot, especially around finals times and they take a long time to get back to you on exam grades which are most of the class. I don't want to give too much of a bad impression however, the information is interesting, and my professor and TA were great, but the organization was poor.
Michael Spivey GVPT331 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/10/2023	Professor Spivey is a great professor and definitely runs this course as if it were an actual law school course. Do not take GVPT331 unless you are planning on going to law school. It definitely is an interesting and challenging course but does not leave much room for error. The tests are worth literally all of your grade, if you don't do well on the tests, you won't do well in the class. He does offer an appeals process for exams and extra credit if you do the case briefs but its not exactly an easy course, you really have to earn your grade.
Michael Spivey GVPT331 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/07/2023	I love the way that Spivey lectures and manages his class. He is very lenient with in-class participation, but exams are quite strict and difficult. I would recommend this class only if you are willing to put in the extra time for success, then you will really enjoy it.
Michael Spivey GVPT331 Expecting a B jennab 05/01/2023	Dr. Spivey is a great professor and a good lecturer, but if you don't care about law, don't find it interesting, or don't plan to attend law school his class will be challenging if you do not put in extra time and effort to understand the material. The law reading and cases are generally a lot of info and pretty dense so you do have to dedicate a significant amount of time outside of class to the readings and case briefs, however, there is no formal homework which is nice but 90% of your grade is exam based so that's also a bit hard. In general not a terrible class just a lot of info
Robert Koulish GVPT331 Expecting an A- thejaybird2013 01/28/2012	The class definitely was not my favorite and I was not what I thought it would be. Koulish teaches with slides so its easy to follow along and take notes, but the way he teaches this course apparently is really different than how others teach it. As with any class, some material was really interesting and other stuff was really dry. Best advice always go to class because he does not post slides and above all always go to discussion, participate and get close to your TA because they do all the grading.
Robert Koulish GVPT331 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/27/2011	After the first day of this class last semester, I was really excited and felt sure that it was going to be an interesting course. However, after that first day, the original professor resigned, and Koulish stepped in. Then the class became a joke. I don't blame the course material, I blame Koulish. He is not an effective professor. His power points are often uninformative. Which would be fine if the words he spoke were informative. But they're not. He constantly puts down the legal profession and talks negatively about lawyers as if he is trying to talk his entire Law class OUT of becoming attorneys. Which doesn't make since if he is a law professor. I don't think Koulish is a bad person, he just shouldn't be teaching a 300 level GVPT class. Lectures are almost pointless, he posts everything on ELMS. Discussion isn't really worth it either but I think you get participation for going. There was a short paper (easy) and a research paper (also easy) as well as a midterm and a final. I may have gotten an A but it was not a fun experience.
Robert Koulish GVPT331 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2011	This was my least favorite class in my four semesters at Maryland. I had a lot of problems with Professor Koulish, although I must first say that he wasn't originally intended to teach this class. The intended professor had to leave after the first week, so Professor Koulish stepped in. Nevertheless, he did a poor job with this class. His class is not particularly difficult, yet I wouldn't consider it fair. For his exams, he provides a powerpoint "review," however none of the topics were on the test. He gave us a 10-12 page paper near the end of the semester, and a final exam. The paper was assigned too late in the semester, and he gave very little guidance about what to actually write. My biggest problems with Koulish came from his lectures. Not only were his powerpoints messy and hard to follow, but they were also covered with grammar and spelling mistakes. He rarely seemed prepared. In addition, his own political beliefs were evident throughout. He wants you to believe that lawyers who work for the private sector or with the goal of making money are terrible people. If you're looking for a LAW class, this is not it. It is focused primarily on sociology and Koulish's beliefs. The topics are somewhat related but not cohesive, and the readings are a little random as well. In addition, he often would not post the reading until the day before it was due. He never responded to a single email I sent him. Overall, he was unorganized and not a good lecturer. I gave him the benefit of the doubt at first because of the exceptional situation of having to step in at the last minute, but by the end I realized that he is an overall bad professor.

Michael Spivey
GVPT331

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/02/2024

I loved this class. Spivey gets upset when it's your day to be called and you didn't do the reading, but aside from that he's a very nice and understanding professor. Line for office hours are always out the door. Good class for people on the fence about law school.

Michael Spivey
GVPT331

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Prof.Spivey teaches GVPT331 to be similar to law school, you'll do case readings and case hypos, and you have one discussion day in the semester where you will be cold-called in the class. Because it challenges you to handle a completely new style of learning, THIS CLASS IS HARD. If you do not have time in your schedule or do not have a real interest in law, I would not recommend this class because of the sheer workload that it requires (and most of this workload is not graded, but is necessary to do well on the exams which count for almost all of your grade in the class). If you do have the passion and the time, I could not recommend this class more. Dr.Spivey's lecture style is really fun to listen to, and you learn so much about law and what law school may look like that is really informative if you're looking into the legal field. The class is as rewarding as it is difficult. The star I took off is just because, as unique and enjoyable as this class can be it can get very disorganized. Prof. Spivey tends to underestimate the time he needs to get through content so the class can often get behind, and it may get confusing what readings you should be doing to prepare. This semester, the second exam date was also moved twice. Despite this I think this class is a one of a kind experience and Prof. Spivey is undoubtedly one of the most entertaining and impactful professors I've had at UMD.

Michael Spivey
GVPT331

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/04/2024

overall: I'm a pre-law gov major and this class was very insightful and pushed me in a good way. it did have more readings then most of my other gov classes but most of the readings are pretty interesting. Spivey does a good job expanding your knowledge of topics by asking a lot of hypotheticals, but sometimes they can get hard to follow, don't worry though his crazy expanded hypotheticals are never like the questions on the exam. the class is 2 exams & 1 final. the difficulty of the exams picks up each time, but not to an insane level. I'd attend lectures to fully understand the material, but missing a few classes won't kill you. if you want to go to law school, i say take the class and give it a try. recommendations/heads up: -You have one day within the entire semester that you are assigned to speak in class so: make sure you prepare! Spivey is always a few classes behind, so if you're day is coming up just prepare the cases before & after your assigned day so that you are ready. On that day you can be asked any type of question, so do the reading unless you want to be embarrassed. -Get the textbook. There's no way around it. -Make friends within the first 2 weeks so that can split up cases for classes. It makes the readings MUCH easier. -Start studying for at least the first exam a week before so that you have time to prepare -Sometimes Spivey is late to his office hours so be prepared for that lol. -You have weekly 5 question quizzes that are low-risk but graded. I'd recommend spending 20 mins the night before just to look over your notes for the week, it helps a lot. -As long as you take notes, attend class, & study you'll be fine

Michael Spivey
GVPT331

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/20/2023

He is an educated and hard-working professor, but he is not the most organized. As a gvpt major I really enjoyed the material and structure (at times) of this unique course, however the appeals process for grades was a mess. I also had to take time out of my day to appeal for my grade and usually got some points back. Additionally, the workload is a lot, especially around finals times and they take a long time to get back to you on exam grades which are most of the class. I don't want to give too much of a bad impression however, the information is interesting, and my professor and TA were great, but the organization was poor.

Michael Spivey
GVPT331

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/10/2023

Professor Spivey is a great professor and definitely runs this course as if it were an actual law school course. Do not take GVPT331 unless you are planning on going to law school. It definitely is an interesting and challenging course but does not leave much room for error. The tests are worth literally all of your grade, if you don't do well on the tests, you won't do well in the class. He does offer an appeals process for exams and extra credit if you do the case briefs but its not exactly an easy course, you really have to earn your grade.

Michael Spivey
GVPT331

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/07/2023

I love the way that Spivey lectures and manages his class. He is very lenient with in-class participation, but exams are quite strict and difficult. I would recommend this class only if you are willing to put in the extra time for success, then you will really enjoy it.

Michael Spivey
GVPT331

Expecting a B
jennab
05/01/2023

Dr. Spivey is a great professor and a good lecturer, but if you don't care about law, don't find it interesting, or don't plan to attend law school his class will be challenging if you do not put in extra time and effort to understand the material. The law reading and cases are generally a lot of info and pretty dense so you do have to dedicate a significant amount of time outside of class to the readings and case briefs, however, there is no formal homework which is nice but 90% of your grade is exam based so that's also a bit hard. In general not a terrible class just a lot of info

Robert Koulish
GVPT331

Expecting an A-
thejaybird2013
01/28/2012

The class definitely was not my favorite and I was not what I thought it would be. Koulish teaches with slides so its easy to follow along and take notes, but the way he teaches this course apparently is really different than how others teach it. As with any class, some material was really interesting and other stuff was really dry. Best advice always go to class because he does not post slides and above all always go to discussion, participate and get close to your TA because they do all the grading.

Robert Koulish
GVPT331

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/27/2011

After the first day of this class last semester, I was really excited and felt sure that it was going to be an interesting course. However, after that first day, the original professor resigned, and Koulish stepped in. Then the class became a joke. I don't blame the course material, I blame Koulish. He is not an effective professor. His power points are often uninformative. Which would be fine if the words he spoke were informative. But they're not. He constantly puts down the legal profession and talks negatively about lawyers as if he is trying to talk his entire Law class OUT of becoming attorneys. Which doesn't make since if he is a law professor. I don't think Koulish is a bad person, he just shouldn't be teaching a 300 level GVPT class. Lectures are almost pointless, he posts everything on ELMS. Discussion isn't really worth it either but I think you get participation for going. There was a short paper (easy) and a research paper (also easy) as well as a midterm and a final. I may have gotten an A but it was not a fun experience.

Robert Koulish
GVPT331

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2011

This was my least favorite class in my four semesters at Maryland. I had a lot of problems with Professor Koulish, although I must first say that he wasn't originally intended to teach this class. The intended professor had to leave after the first week, so Professor Koulish stepped in. Nevertheless, he did a poor job with this class. His class is not particularly difficult, yet I wouldn't consider it fair. For his exams, he provides a powerpoint "review," however none of the topics were on the test. He gave us a 10-12 page paper near the end of the semester, and a final exam. The paper was assigned too late in the semester, and he gave very little guidance about what to actually write. My biggest problems with Koulish came from his lectures. Not only were his powerpoints messy and hard to follow, but they were also covered with grammar and spelling mistakes. He rarely seemed prepared. In addition, his own political beliefs were evident throughout. He wants you to believe that lawyers who work for the private sector or with the goal of making money are terrible people. If you're looking for a LAW class, this is not it. It is focused primarily on sociology and Koulish's beliefs. The topics are somewhat related but not cohesive, and the readings are a little random as well. In addition, he often would not post the reading until the day before it was due. He never responded to a single email I sent him. Overall, he was unorganized and not a good lecturer. I gave him the benefit of the doubt at first because of the exceptional situation of having to step in at the last minute, but by the end I realized that he is an overall bad professor.

Reviews for GVPT331