Natalie Chwalisz

Had a presentation within the first month worth 40% of the grade. Her grading made no sense but I liked her as a person. Some people got pretty frustrated by the end. There were also two small papers based off of a presentation, but the paper topic had nothing/very little to do with the presentation.

Comparative Politics is an interesting topic and class in my opinion. The material and readings often were interesting to me. Despite this, readings were typically unnaturally drawn upon in our discussion sections. Lectures with Professor Chwalisz went too fast. The class grading was overwhelmingly concentrated on the presentation. I found the research for the project very interesting however the stakes placed on the assignment made it more stressful. Discussion sections were mostly consumed by these presentations and often lacked the time to develop into what they could've become. Pop quizzes more often than not had incorrect answers in them, further demonstrating the disorganized nature of the lectures. Professor Chwalisz is certainly knowledgeable but I don't think she did a great job with this course. Reading was pretty heavy but manageable and interesting. Ultimately, I would take the course again but not with Professor Chwalisz.

Comparative Politics is an interesting topic and class in my opinion. The material and readings often were interesting to me. Despite this, readings were typically unnaturally drawn upon in our discussion sections. Lectures with Professor Chwalisz went too fast. The class grading was overwhelmingly concentrated on the presentation. I …Read more

I liked that the class could be reoriented towards the topics that the students found interesting during discussions. Natalie was a good professor overall, although she would speed through the lecture slides.