ECON BC3041

kinda full of himself very boring class tedious workload on the daily but few major assignments/exams and most important thing is attendance and participation tbh

There were two "discussion assignments" (one page essays), two essays and a final. Weiman grades harshly so beware. There was also no coordination between him and the TA, so depending on who grades your paper you could have vastly different outcomes. Also be careful who you ask for advice as Weiman and his TA look for different things in a paper (completely different grading scales and standards). I also did not do any of the readings (it was super dense).

2-3 essays on readings (fairly graded but payed much attention on jargon and economic terms used) Class Presentation (he is incredibly encouraging and Final Exam

3 guided project/papers and a final paper. There is a lot of creative freedom for these assignments and they are also given to us with ample time and support.

I only took this class because it is a requirement for the Barnard Economics Major. I would not recommend this class at all. David Weiman, while he is knowledgable on the subject (due to millions of years teaching it), is the most boring professor I have ever encountered at Barnard/Columbia. He reminds me of the teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. To begin with, I found the subject matter of this class boring (Hobbes, Locke, Smith), and this was only intensified by Weiman's monotone lectures. Weiman attempts to create slides to follow along with his lectures, although they frequently don't make sense and raise questions that he never clearly answers.

Professor Burgstaller is an immensely intelligent economist and is well versed in the history of economic thought. This class is focused on heavy readings and carefully analyzing the macroeconomic applications from influential economic works. He is an incredibly kind man and tries to engage students in class. He explains concepts so well that I can recall exactly the examples he used. He records each lecture and posts it on courseworks, along with pictures of the board with his notes. Unfortunately many students do take advantage of this accessibility and skip on attending lecture. He makes Adam Smith as interesting as possible, although most of the readings are a dry read. His (and the TA's) grading is fair and does not let BS slip by. In all, he is a fantastic professor to have at Columbia and I encourage students to make an effort to engage in philosophical and economic thought with him.

Kurt is genuinely one of the most enthusiastic and practical professors I have had. He prioritizes learning over stressing out students and did a nice job crafting assignments that were engaging and allowed us to apply the skills. He is very much there for his students and is a very understanding professor. His lectures can feel long but the slides are organized and detailed and convenient for note taking. Highly recommend taking a course with him!

Lots of opportunities to get an A! Weekly discussion posts that are VERY open ended and SUPER easy. 2 Longer assignments: "Commodities" and "institutions" that a third grader could do. One take-home final that I have yet to take, but judging by his assignments I assume will be a breeze.

Here’s a refined version: "Semm is clearly intelligent and has a unique, often hilariously awkward sense of humor. He’s undoubtedly suited for academic research, but teaching doesn’t seem to be his strong suit. Unfortunately, he struggles with classroom management, is quite disorganized, and his lectures lack engagement. While the course content itself is fascinating, even Margot Robbie in a bathtub could have done a better job presenting it—he simply reads from his slides for the entire 70 minutes. Plus, he assigns an overwhelming amount of reading that, honestly, doesn’t feel necessary. As a conservative woman in an institution that leans liberal, I felt somewhat alienated by his occasional remarks about my political views. Let’s just say discussion posts felt like "the worst performance of my career—and nobody seemed to question that for a second."