Erik Bleich

I originally took this class since I really enjoy data science/analysis and thought a formal class on text based data would be useful. I was very wrong. We used a set of Python Jupyter notebooks for our analysis that were precoded pipelines not by Bleich who teaches the class but his “colleague” who is a professor from a different college entirely. As a result, we did not learn any useful coding or data analysis methods that could be applied to future projects .

Additionally, the course is taught as a semester long group project where you do “research” using the notebooks. This included two versions of a literature review, a presentation, and “notebook checks” to make sure we were up to date. For the literature review, there was a first version that was graded with feedback. We got a decent grade and used the feedback to update and improve our first version. When we received a grade for our second version, we were very confused by the fact that we had been given a much lower grade. This continued throughout the semester. 

Furthermore, there were only 5 groups, but the professor did not seem to be up to date on what students were working on. This manifested into a strange situation where we received feedback on our assignment one day and the very next day in class he seemed to have no idea what our project was on despite (hopefully) spending some time reading our work before giving out grades. 

While I did end up with a good grade in the end and the people in my group were super nice and helpful, I would not recommend this course. Instead, I would recommend either a class in the math/stat department or PSCI 0210 when Burt Johnson is teaching since you learn how to code in R and Professor Johnson is super kind and an amazing professor.

I originally took this class since I really enjoy data science/analysis and thought a formal class on text based data would be useful. I was very wrong. We used a set of Python Jupyter notebooks for our analysis that were precoded pipelines not by Bleich who teaches the class but his “colleague” who is a professor from a different co …Read more

Professor Bleich is very passionate about the material. Unfortunately that is the only good thing about this "class". His lectures were incredibly boring and not very informative. The class was based around learning how to analyze text using code. While cool in theory, Bleich has little to teach in this area. Bleich relied on using a colleague at W&M's code to teach us how to analyze text. This meant that the material we "learned" was not replicable, but also that Bleich didn't really know the material, instead relying on TAs and his colleague to help us troubleshoot any errors. This was worsened by the seemingly arbitrary grading system. Bleich provided my group with an A- and some notes on a draft of a literature review. After my group resubmitted the literature review with the requested edits we got a B. This random grading persisted throughout the semester. One might hope that after experiencing this semester long ordeal they would make some cool conclusions with data. However, they would be mistaken, for the graphs that Bleich taught us to make were extremely flawed, sort of like him. The graphs were quite misleading, providing no real insight. Even worse, Bleich proudly displays these poor graphs on his website, which I will not be linking out of pure spite. I would only advise this class if you are into boring lectures, painful group projects, and the suspense of not know what your grade will be.

Professor Bleich is very passionate about the material. Unfortunately that is the only good thing about this "class". His lectures were incredibly boring and not very informative. The class was based around learning how to analyze text using code. While cool in theory, Bleich has little to teach in this area. Bleich relied on using a …Read more

I found this course to be incredibly fun and engaging, with discussions helping reinforce memorability of the readings. Exams were mostly fine and I found the final presentation project to be incredibly enjoyable. My only gripe is that Erik Bleich is a harsh grader