Benjamin Mcclelland

There were 2 short essays, a midterm, and a final. That sounds like a lot for an intro class, but it's really not. The essays are extremely short and the prompts are focused on applications of concepts to a specific case study, so they aren't very correlated to the specific readings assigned, but rather the concepts learned in lecture. I will say, the grading is done by the TA's, and I do think that your TA matters a lot regarding your grade. While I don't think any TA's are failing people or being extremely harsh, there are definitely easier ones, so that's something to keep in mind. I spent roughly 3 hours on this class a week doing readings, in addition to the 2 classes and discussion section. If there was an essay that week, I probably spent ~6 hours writing the essay and then revising it (I got A on both, but I also know people that wrote them start to finish in 2 hours and got A's too). For a midterm/final, he gives a list of relevant terms/concepts/case studies, and I would spend the two days before the exam focusing exclusively on the class.

Professor McClelland is excellent, I could not recommend him enough. In my opinion, comparative politics was the best political science intro class. It is an 8:40, but Professor McClelland makes his class very entertaining and is constantly referencing current events that keep you engaged. Professor McClelland is one of those professors that you remember forever, he truly cares about his students and does everything in his power to help you succeed. The lectures are interesting and relevant, and he goes relatively slowly through difficult concepts, so you never feel lost.

Not overwhelming in the slightest. Weekly readings, two ~1000-word response papers (20% of the grade each), midterm and final (25% of the grade each), and mandatory discussion section participation (10% of the grade).

By far my favorite class. Professor McClelland is super engaging and hilarious, making having the class at 8:40am less of a pain. The content discussed in the lecture slides (posted on Canvas usually after class) is directly related to the midterm and final, so you could probably never do the readings and still do well.

Took this class a year ago so I don't fully remember. A few papers, Midterm + Final. Material on exams is dense and he asks for some very specific information, but he prepares you well for it throughout the course.

Mcclelland is great. Class is at 8:40 but somehow he makes it so that you don't hate coming to lecture. Finds a way to keep you engaged no matter how tired you are, and lecture truly just feels like an open environment for you to truly interact with the material.

Midterm and Final - blue book, short and long essay answers (2) response papers - 3-5 pages based on what you learned in class

Truly a standout professor. Incredibly engaging, hilarious, and understanding. Very reasonable workload for a 4 credit class - incredibly strict (I thought sometimes ridiculous) grading by the TAs, but fascinating course.

weekly discussion questions for section in class midterm in class final 2 response papers (1000 words each)

I loved McLelland, he is super funny and lecture is engaging. his slides are very clear and he always posts them as well. he is super smart and is not afraid to share his personal opinions on things, which I appreciate. short response papers responding to an AI prompt and then one to an instagram reel, kind of a weird format, TA's took forever to get our grades back