Eduardo Moncada

In-class writing assignments after every section of the course was over- 30% and could drop the lowest, final - 40%, recitations - 30%. I would spend the whole of Sunday preparing, so last-minute prep was just enough. Although, I do have to say that the grading is somewhat harsh (maybe it was just my TA) but he was pretty nitpicky and would reduce my score over the tiniest details -- like why would you give me 9.9/10, just round it up?? Also, if you're crazy about A+s, you'll only receive it of you get 99% and above so good luck :/

I had no expectations going into this class because I genuinely had no idea how the course would be structured, since I registered because I was intrigued by the name of the class. Moncada uploads uses slides to teach, records his lectures, and then uploads them after class. However, he tends to go fast, so you either have to choose between listening to him or getting down the lecture notes. The class content was definitely interesting, one of the most insightful classes I've taken at Columbia and the professor knows what he is doing.

There were 5 short in class writing assignments and the lowest grade gets dropped. There was also a final, however that became optional this year. Grades were also based off participation and attendance in discussion section.

I really enjoyed this course and Professor Moncada is so great! The topic is really interesting (although sometimes the material seems repetitive). Moncada is such a nice guy and really cares about the topic and his students. This is a really interesting political science elective and is different from traditional material, so it is worth taking. Moncada lectures really well and even had a few guest lectures. He's really into films so we did have to watch a few films, and the readings were usually around 20 pages.

I do think the workload we have to study for some in-class writing assignments is a lot (especially given how little each assignment is worth in terms of weightage). Nonetheless, I highly recommend taking this class :) On average, I'd say I spend 7 hrs a week on the class – maybe more when there's an upcoming in-class writing assignment

I had high expectations going into this class and Professor Moncada exceeded them. He is very knowledgeable in this subject and his lectures are easy to follow because he elucidates his ideas clearly and the "main objectives" slide at the start of his lecture slides really helps too. There are 5 in-class writing assignments each worth 8.75% (the lowest grade will be dropped), a weekly discussion section worth 35% and a final exam worth 35%. Professor Moncada and the TA Juan are very helpful and indeed quite eager to answer questions. I also really enjoyed the variety of content we had to study for class – readings, podcasts and documentaries/films – and analysing the documentaries through the concepts and theories we learnt in the readings allowed me to appreciate them through a different lens. I think the grading thus far has been very generous.

Workload was pretty manageable. There were 3 in-class writing assignments (for 10 points each) which were pretty easy as long as you reviewed the material before and watched/listened to the associated podcasts or videos. Weekly discussion sections with graded attendance and participation. One group presentation during a discussion section. One 3500 word final essay, with the prompts released four days prior to the due date.

The topics that were discussed were really interesting. Professor Moncada is a kind professor who definitely knows a lot about the subject. The class came with a mandatory discussion section where attendance and participation were graded. The final was a 3,500 word essay that you had four days to complete, which was honestly kind of annoying because you basically had to do it over the weekend.