Erik Bleich

I didn't know much about Dante's Inferno or other works that we read previous to class but I found the readings to be engaging. I did like the style of discussion within the class and the professor was very friendly and approachable.

This course was difficult in the amount of reading we had to do each week. For example, some of the heaviest weeks were when a lot of genesis and exodus were assigned, or when the entire book of the Odyssey was assigned. The good part is that exams (written in class essays) were graded fairly and not too bad if you at least skimmed the readings each week (which is the best way to go for this course).

This course was difficult in the amount of reading we had to do each week. For example, some of the heaviest weeks were when a lot of genesis and exodus were assigned, or when the entire book of the Odyssey was assigned. The good part is that exams (written in class essays) were graded fairly and not too bad if you at least skimmed t …Read more

This was a decent course. We had different themes throughout the semester, like authoritarianism, democratization, identity politics, etc. and had to do quite a bit of reading prior to each lecture. Then the lectures consisted of Professor Bleich going over the most important points in the reading during class, following along with his presentation, and then having some kind of small group discussions toward the end. I really liked that each student had the opportunity to select any three countries from different regions of the world and to carry out comparisons between them in relation to each theme throughout the semester. The exams for this course were all essay based. If I recall, there was one at-home essay and then two in-class, timed essays for the midterm and the final. It seemed that Professor Bleich liked active participation and engagement from his students, so I think our quiet morning class kind of threw him off. But, the course was ok overall.

This was a decent course. We had different themes throughout the semester, like authoritarianism, democratization, identity politics, etc. and had to do quite a bit of reading prior to each lecture. Then the lectures consisted of Professor Bleich going over the most important points in the reading during class, following along with h …Read more