Mark Williams

I thoroughly enjoyed Professor Williams course, while it is very lecture and reading heavy I found his lecture's surprisingly engaging if you want them to be. He often poses questions and if you engage with them it can show the value of the material from both his lectures and readings. That being said the midterms and final are very difficult, with short word counts but a TON of information expected to be communicated. If you have some interest in poli sci and are willing to do most (don't necessarily have to do all) of the readings outside of class then I think the material can be very valuable.

I thoroughly enjoyed Professor Williams course, while it is very lecture and reading heavy I found his lecture's surprisingly engaging if you want them to be. He often poses questions and if you engage with them it can show the value of the material from both his lectures and readings. That being said the midterms and final are very …Read more

Mostly lectures, as long as you read and take notes well, it's quite easy. The only challenge is the papers due to trying to fit all your thoughts into such a small word limit, the majority of the time

This is a lecture class, no question about it. Readings for each class, then Prof. Williams lectures. He sometimes calls on people, but it's mostly taking notes. His lectures are long-winded sometimes, and he loves his wacky metaphors, but he's clear and a good teacher. The big thing about the class is the papers--two midterms and a final. They are EXTREMELY difficult, because he expects you to include ALL elements of theory with regard to ALL elements of big-deal case studies, and to do it in 500 words. He provides good guidance in office hours, but has very high expectations. If you go to him and talk to him, it's very helpful. And the excersise of writing these is super informative. But it's hard.

This is a lecture class, no question about it. Readings for each class, then Prof. Williams lectures. He sometimes calls on people, but it's mostly taking notes. His lectures are long-winded sometimes, and he loves his wacky metaphors, but he's clear and a good teacher. The big thing about the class is the papers--two midterms and a …Read more