Carlos Vargas-Ramos

I actually really liked this class! Definitely recommend it if you're a political science major and need a class for the American politics subfield, or even if you're just interested in American urban politics. Only frustration is that he doesn't post the slides, so if you miss a day and don't have a friend to send you the notes, you're out of luck. The midterm and final are open note and pretty self explanatory; he takes directly from discussion questions we've done this semester and it's really easy to get a good grade. I'd recommend going to class because the discussion is helpful! The TAs my semester tended to grade a little harshly which also wasn't great, but they were helpful with notes and communication.

If you are interested in how policies are made in the U.S., I would definitely recommend this class (and especially Professor Russell). A lot of the skills from this class can be applied throughout political science courses (and post-grad). 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2023 Course: POLSUN3921_003_2023_1-AMERICANPOLITICSSEMINAR : POLSUN3921_003_2023_1 - AMERICAN POLITICS SEMINAR Instructor: Judith Russell

Class is pretty easy, lecture can be long but just showing up and answering question counts to your final grade. Questions can often be answered without having really done the reading. Class discussion are often pretty engaging

Professor Vargas-Ramos is very nice, but this class is soo boring in my opinion. It is one of the later classes and he reads word for word off of his notes. Honestly, if participation wasnt forced, than you could get away with not going to class, only doing the readings, and still end up with a really good grade in this class.

PLEASE DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. 20 page midterm that you get 1 week to do during peak midterm week. he forces class participation and if u don't talk like every class, he will give u like a 50% on participation. he is not willing to negotiate grades. he forces you to attend class, but gives the most boring lectures ever and just reads off a page. he makes it nearly impossible to get an extension (ur class dean has to make the extension request for u). will not cancel class for ANYTHING. one time there was like tornado weather outside and he didn't cancel class and he counts attendance. literally years of reading and u actually have to do it all to understand anything in the class. SO BORING. do not take

I loved American Urban Politics with Prof. Vargas-Ramos. It’s a pretty niche class but I think it’s essential to anyone interested in public policy. We cover the history of governance structures, different theories, coalitions, policies, and power. The class, while 75-90 people, is run as about half discussion, and the class runs on student participation. You can give your opinions, ask questions, answer his (albeit targeted) questions, and try to draw connections between readings/lectures/your cities. The class is a lot of work, but it’s definitely worth it. He builds a camaraderie with students, and it’s clear he cares about what students are thinking. I think he does a fantastic job of tying current events to the class, and will start every other class asking for people to share news that’s related to urban politics. He’s a sweet guy. If you care about politics, take the class. It’s worth the extra work, it’s really helpful for building a better understanding of the ins and outs of local governance.

Bad: Lectures too fast and reads from his textbook/readings word for word in class. Sometimes, he reads verbatim to the point where it's so difficult to follow what he is trying to convey because everything he says runs together. At that point, it becomes had to contextualize what he is saying and how it relates and my mind shuts off. I don't feel like I get as much as I could from the lectures; he should try to read less verbatim/from slides and make it more conversational. There were a lot of times in class where I've thought "what is the main point?" "what am I susposta be learning?" Good: The manner in which he facilitates class discussion allows for an interesting exchange of opinions(usually related to the reading). Trying to participate in class discussion usually involves some level of trying to form an intelligent and coherent thought, so for me personally I really felt the intellectual challenge from it. The readings are usually beneficial(except from that urban politics reader(sp?) book---which is terribly cumbersome in rhetoric). He also is a really nice person overall, and seems to go out of his way to converse with some of the students before class starts. It makes it seem like he actually cares about the students.

I'm so damn bored in this class that I feel compelled to write my first CULPA review. I really cannot state enough that this one of the worst classes I have taken at Columbia. Sure, I'll totally concede that the subject matter is intriguing and that I enjoy reading the textbook, but the rest of the class is an absolute farce. Class participation seems to be entirely based on mandatory attendance and the occasional poorly supported claims people make in class. Furthermore, Vargas-Ramos is awful. Not only is he an incredibly boring professor, pretty much just reading eyes-to-notes in complete monotone and racing through powerpoint slides (which no one takes notes on because let's be real, what's the point), but I also find him quite annoying and oftentimes patronizing. Typical class-participation dialogue: Professor: What is the reason [insert dumbly obvious question stated word-for-word in reading]? Student: Bla bla bla... The American Dream— Professor: And what is the American Dream? Student: Bla bla bla... Professor: And what does that mean to you? Student: [Insert completely subjective comment that has no relevance to the course] Stupid stuff like this happens all the time. Vargas-Ramos has no distinction between the necessary and the stupid. All is fair game. Pretty much the remainder of the class involves writing: choice between paper and five written responses. The writte…

Professor Vargas-Ramos was a fantastic professor. Our lecture was about 50 people but he managed to create an engaging atmosphere and many people participated. The topics were interesting and I genuinely enjoyed doing most of the readings. He was a very fair grader (if you put in the time, you did well) and actually got to know each student.

Very easy grader. I have never heard of someone getting under a 93 on assignments. Extremely long midterm, 5 response papers (2-3 pages), and a 10 page final. Also, there are A LOT of readings, but honestly they were super interesting, only reason I didnt drop the class.