Information | Review |
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Sujith Kumar
GVPT449G Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/27/2024 |
Professor Kumar made the class teach the required material. The format of the class necessitates each student to give 2 to 3 presentations on relatively long political theory essays. These presentations last the entirety of the semester, and are one of the largest portions of your overall grade. You won't know what you get on these presentations up to a month and a half after they are completed. Same thing for worksheet grades and discussions. He completes grading relatively late, which impacts the way you complete subsequent assignments. You cannot make changes without feedback. The second part of your grade is your two essays, which are unnecessarily LONG. He tends to grade these essays strictly. On a separate note, this professor is clearly left-wing. I don't recommend taking this class if you do not agree with his beliefs. He is not willing to compromise on a lot of left-wing values. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/23/2024 |
I enjoyed the class and his teaching, however, his slides always had minimal information. If you miss class, it is hard to understand what is going on due of depth posted on ELMS. I also had a 89.2 and he refused to raise up my grade--which I believe was unfair. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/09/2024 |
Prof is very chill. no group projects but two essays instead. Ta is ok. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Anonymous 05/01/2024 |
Nice profesor and pretty easy class. Strict grading though |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/13/2023 |
Dr. Kumar is a genuinely nice person and interesting lecturer. He posts lecture slides ahead of class for the most part. They are brief so it is very important to to come to lecture. I recommend taking notes of the slides before class and just copying down what he writes in lecture. There are 5 multiple choice quizzes all 10 questions each that are open note. They are often mostly based on lecture material. There are lengthy readings (45-60 pgs) a week but not necessarily needed if you pay attention in lecture. Discussions are helpful to understand the content and review for the quizzes. He is very knowledgeable about the subject. There are two papers, one midterm individual assignment and one group final paper. These were graded very harshly by the graduate TA (Isaiah Espinosa). Not Kumar's fault, however tanked many grades and did not provide constructive criticism. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/07/2023 |
Dr. Kumar is a genuinely nice guy and he does a pretty good job at applying old concepts to situations in today’s world. All slides are posted, making your life easier if you are unable to make it to class. Lecture is not mandatory but discussion is. Expect 5 multiple choice quizzes (your lowest score gets dropped), 300 word/week discussion posts and 150+ word replies, a midterm paper, and final group project (working well with your group is important). No exams in this class. If you try your best, succeeding in this class is definitely attainable; Dr. Kumar is very reasonable and so are his TAs. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/18/2023 |
Good lecturer, and Dr. Kumar seems very nice and approachable. Always willing to answer questions. The number of homework assignments in this class is kind of annoying. Every week, you have to write a 300 word discussion post with citations from the week's reading, and you have to reply to another student's post. There are also 5 quizzes and a final project. I didn't mind the quizzes at all. The project was okay, but the professor and the TAs could have done a much better job explaining the instructions clearly. The discussion posts can be very tedious though, and sometimes I feel like I spend more time formulating my posts to get them over with than actually just taking some time to think and absorb the content. I think this course would benefit from a discussion post once every two or three weeks. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2023 |
I am surprised by his mediocre ratings because he is a great professor and incredibly knowledgeable. He gives 10-question quizzes every two weeks which are not that bad but are crucial to your grade, so do well. Additionally, there are weekly discussion posts that I would advise doing the textbook reading for these. It may not be 100% necessary, but it helps because you have to find quotes from the readings. Get the online textbook if you are going to get it. He is very nice to talk to and he is more than willing to explain concepts for a second after class. Doesnt give unit tests, but the midterm and the final paper are graded on the hard side, so meet with the TA so you know what he wants. Overall, Kumar is a great professor and definitional knows what he's talking about. Take him if you can. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT449G Expecting an A Anonymous 02/10/2023 |
I took this course a couple semesters ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Dr. Kumar is a knowledgable and passionate lecturer with lots of compassion for his students. This class was challenging; it is set up like a graduate-level seminar, and requires two long-ish papers. Lots of reading that is required if you want to be active in the class discussions. Would recommend 100% to any student looking for a fascinating challenge! |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/08/2023 |
Lectures were entertaining, but all of your work is graded by TA's and a graduate assistant. There are no midterms, but there are five quizzes spaced throughout the semester that make up 25% of your grade total and a paper, plus weekly discussion posts that are graded by TAs. There is also no final exam, but there is a final project that is a group essay which is graded by the graduate assistant and you receive a grade for the rough draft and the final draft. This class is fine, but would not recommend if you don't have to take this class or don't care about 1700s-modern european/american philosophy because that makes the class insufferable and incredibly boring. MAKE NO MISTAKE THIS IS A PHILOSOPHY CLASS, NOT A GOVERNMENT CLASS AND THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/08/2023 |
Kumar is a good lecturer and you will get a good grasp of the concepts if you attend and take good notes. Class was enjoyable until the end where we had to do a group project worth 30% of our grade. Got placed with a horrible group for the final project, ended up having to do the entire paper myself. When I brought forward the group contract well in advance to the professor, I was practically blown off. Wish there had been accountability enforced. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2022 |
You need to show up to lectures because what he says is more helpful than what is on the slides. Also, he reads off a paper so he isn't always fluid in lecture delivery, but overall explains the content. He makes quizzes open note and some answers are directly from slides, which is good. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022 |
This course is very engaging and thought-provoking, especially If you like philosophy and politics. Profesor Kumar is also very knowledgable and a good lecturer. The work is fairly simple and easy, except for the group essay which was frustrating for me because it required a high level or coordination which was hard for my group. I think it would have been a lot easier to make it a personal essay instead. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2022 |
Interesting class and Dr. Kumar is a good lecturer. Make sure to do your discussion boards. The only thing about this class is the Quizzes are rather hard, even though they are open notes. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022 |
Dr. Kumar's class is pretty interesting but all you really need to pass the class are the slides. The lectures make you think and are engaging, but if they weren't mandatory you wouldn't need to show up. Make sure to do the discussions though they are a huge part of your grade! |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Anonymous 11/21/2022 |
Dr. Kumar is a good lecturer, and the classes can be pretty interesting. The quizzes can be kind of tricky sometimes, but they aren't too difficult. The worst part about this class is the group project, where everybody in the group gets the same grade so if you get stuck with bad group members, you either have to do the project yourself, or get a bad grade. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT449G Expecting an A Anonymous 05/31/2022 |
Definitely a difficult class, but Dr. Kumar was very knowledgeable and was a good lecturer. Attendance was not required, but it really helps if you go. Make sure you do well on essays, you will need to put above-average effort into them. Overall really good class and professor! |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/26/2022 |
Really good lecturer, but like other people say, the quizzes are really weird. There are 5 ten question MC quizzes scattered throughout the semester. Kind of hard to do them, but at least he posts recordings of his lectures online. Essays aren't that bad, as long as you do what the rubric tells you, you're good. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/21/2021 |
Late a lot to lecture but he was an extremely good lecturer. The quizzes were confusing which messed up my grade but I loved how he worded and elaborated on the topics approached in this course. The only real annoying thing is he barely gave us any time to do our lengthy discussion posts weekly, usually he would put them out the day before. If he was more organized I would give him a 5/5. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Anonymous 12/16/2021 |
Though he is a very chill guy he is very opinionated and likes to hint his views through the lectures. Also, his feedback on papers is not clear at all and makes it even more a pain to fix up. Claims he's a professor when he's just a senior lecturer |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/16/2021 |
He is a good lecturer who makes boring material interesting. His assignments are fairly graded and everything is very manageable. He's always happy to discuss concepts and ideas with students after lectures and is committed to engaging the students with the course material. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2021 |
Not the most interesting class but Dr. Kumar is interesting in lectures. Quizzes are hard but all the information is posted on the posted powerpoints and they are open note so definitely workable. Wish he would take fewer questions in lectures and tell people to save them for discussion because it is often a waste of everyone's time but other than that a nice guy. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/07/2021 |
Fairly easy course as long as you understand the material. Quizzes make up a bulk of your grade so study for those. Kumar's pretty chill and receptive to student's concerns. Not bad at all. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/04/2021 |
He is a pretty likeable guy, but the quizzes I struggled with a lot until I figured out how to study for them. The class is not bad at all, minus the quizzes. If you are a GVPT major, study up heavily for them, but the papers are really easy, so you are fine there. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A- julia128 06/16/2021 |
Dr. Kumar is very interested in this topic and it shows! However every lecture felt like he was just reiterating the already confusing textbook which wasn't helpful considering 4 quizzes made up the bulk of the grade in this class. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/25/2021 |
I actually really liked this course. Kumar's lectures were kind of strange but still made sense. Our TA Joel made the discussions much clearer and helped us easily understand the content. But the essay prompts were SO unnecessarily confusing when they didn't need to be. We had one group project, no tests or reading quizzes, and two essays. Overall not bad but if you don't like Government and philosophy that much I wouldn't take it. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting a B kinquist 12/27/2020 |
hes just ok. his lectures dont make sense at all but hes a nice person. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2019 |
Dr. Kumar actually tag-teamed GVPT241 with Dr. Glass (I don’t think they’ve done it before, and I don’t know if they’ll be doing it again). Personally, I enjoyed having Kumar because his lectures were more coherent and slightly more engaging. We had 3 essays total, and his essay prompt (the third and last one, used as our final essay) was clear in its expectations. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Anonymous 12/08/2019 |
I have seen a lot of bad reviews of him. He is not the best teacher, but he was really nice and very passionate about the subject. He also helps students to understand complex readings. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/10/2018 |
Terrible lecturer, terrible quizzes, terrible exams. Avoid at all costs. |
Sujith Kumar
GVPT241 Expecting a B- Anonymous 11/01/2018 |
Worst prof ever. Gives out a plethora of reading quizzes, comprised of five poorly written questions, that are worth more than exam grades, percentage-wise. Every Monday and Wednesday. This class made me do the most for a 200-level class. |