POLS W4226

medium, but frustrating at times. Two take-home papers: a 4-6 page midterm and 6-8 page paper both with very broad questions that can easily double for a PhD dissertation, much easier in class final.

This is a great class if you want to learn about the beginnings of welfare in the United States and the recent history of welfare through the Clinton administration. The lectures were always interesting and worth the early wakeup call, but be aware that the class will often seem much more like a history course than a political science course. Thus, there's a bit of difficulty in determining how to answer the extremely vague essay questions; many readings are not discussed in lecture and aren't discussed well in recitation and you are on your own to analyze and cite them in the papers. The midterm was graded pretty harshly, probably just to make students take the class seriously, and did not pose a detrimental threat to your overall grade for the class. The best way to approach the papers is to pick a very specific issue and analyze the heck out of it rather than trying to describe everything about the New Deal in five pages.

readings (i only did about half and did well), take home midterm paper (5-6 pages), final paper(6-8 pages), and a final that was manageable if you studied (short ids, and short and long essays); the TA does do a lot of the grading

Professor Lieberman was extremely knowledgeable about the subject and always had funny stories to tell about the origins of a random social policy. If you can get through the first part about England, which was not nearly as interesting as the latter part, it is a great class. His lectures are a must because he goes over all of the important information from the readings in it. I didn't do all of the reading but did well in the class because his lectures were so precise. Also, when he doesn't know the answer to a question, he admits it and will find it which I found a welcome change from some others.

Don't be fooled--only 1 (take-home) midterm, 6-8pp final paper & essay-centric final, but don't skip the readings, close-reads were essential for all 3.

I disagree with previous reviewers (or perhaps he's changed the syllabus), thought that the historical/European background info was compact & relevant to understanding contemporary attitudes. Per the title, it is AMERICAN Poli & Soc Welf though, so don't expect much in the way of comparisons to other systems that actually work. He lectures with evident passion & knowledge about the subject matter & American history in general. Never saw him consult his notes once during a lecture, always seemed prepared & excited about the topic of the day. Frequently injected his lectures with amusing political facts and interesting historical anecdotes. Clearly a liberal but he's a pro at presenting all sides of the debates. Seemed like a hard-ass the first week but he loosened up considerably after the obnoxious "mememe's" quit wasting their(our) time asking frivolous questions just to prove they had read the material. He's boyishly charming & super personable, so expect a few googly-eyed history femmes sitting in the front row. His TA was awful, btw. He was frequently the tardiest person to class and was clearly an inexperienced section leader. I did well on the papers but his comments were undecipherable. There was some mix-up in the beginning of the semester and he ended up being the only TA assigned to our class, so maybe he was a fill-in. Only required to attend 4 sections but they wer…

Take Home midterm, term paper, 8-10 pages, in class final

Professor Lieberman is a great professor. His lectures are well organized and easy to follow and liten too. He's very easily available to discuss class material. With alittle effort it's not too difficult to get an A in this class, though that would in some cases depend on the TA.

Totally manageable. Take-home midterm, 6-8 p paper, attendance and part. at 4 discussions, and a final exam. But the essays did require some thought, and weren't just input-output polisci-speak, if you know what I mean.

I found Lieberman to be pretty good, but highly repetitive at times. He was for some reason incapable of gauging when the class understood something, and would explain and re-explain simple concepts, often to the visible frustration of the class. He would sometimes take 30 mins to say something that everyone understood after five, but I guess there are worse crimes. I personally found the TA (Enrique) to be vastly more engaging than the professor himself: Lieberman taught rinky-dinky high school American History, and the TA brought more nuanced and clear view to it and really made it what "Political Science" is supposed to be. That being said, the readings were excellent and in the end I really did get a pretty good understanding of American Welfare, although not much else. Keep in mind you won't learn anything about the European or other welfare systems. It was solidly Ohhh Kaaay, but I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it.