Phenomenal class that changed the way I looked at history...Waldner was engaging and everything was interesting. It is a lot of material, though, so lots of reading (some worthwhile, some not), but it ends up being okay. Elyssa is the best TA ever!

I didn't care too much for Waldner, but the class is pretty good. It is a broad look at how state development has taken place, and not too difficult. I didn't do the majority of the readings and got an A-. Susan Brewer is a great T.A, she's very helpful and SO nice.

Totally worthwhile class, best class of my first semester. At first I was really intimidated because there's a lot of upperclassmen taking it for a gov't/foreign affairs major, but I got over it. Waldner is an amazing lecturer, gets you really excited about the material. I only did about 1/3 of the reading and got away with an A-, which I think was kind of lucky. The midterm and final are VERY straightforward and fairly graded. I'd say the worst part about the class was the stress of not knowing how to study, but you end up realizing that you've absorbed a lot of info during lecture and if you understand the material, you'll do fine.

Prof Waldner has a very formal approach to material. He doesn't try to be fair to all opinions; he tries to stick to logically sound theories and be factually correct. The most clearly organized course I've taken at UVA.

Great lecturer, at times the material was pretty boring, but he did a good job of presenting it in a clear manner. Elyssa was a great TA and very willing to meet outside of class.

Engaging lecturer but with a manner that might rub you the wrong way. Definitely learned a lot, the class is very structured/organized. Reading varies a lot, some dense and boring, some more interesting.

A lot of reading for a 100 level class. I'd only recommend this class if you're planning to major in politics, specifically comparative. Not too hard, but definitly not an easy A

Professor Waldner is a very engaging speaker, yes. He is also utterly incapabale of presenting material in an unbiased manner. He loves to push his own beliefs on students, and that would be fine if this were an upper-level course, but it is not. If you're expecting a fair, unbiased overview of theories of comparative politics, don't take this class with Waldner.

I loved this class. There is a lot of reading to do that's fairly complex, but the professor and TAs help a lot to explain the material. Professor Waldner is very engaging and his lectures are enjoyable to atttend. A very good overview of comparative politics and a good course for anyone interested in the foreign affairs/comparative politics major

This course is really tough, but totally worth it. Waldner's an engaging speaker, which more than makes up for sometimes boring and long-winded reading. He's really funny. Oh, and not all the reading's boring, some stuff, particularly the last article we read, was really good.