HISA 3002

The first thing you should know is that Professor Leonard knows more about this subject than you know about yourself. If you are super interested in the subject, take this class. He is incredibly knowledgeable in the material and that comes with some pros and cons. The lectures can be really interesting but also very difficult to follow. He expects a certain level of class participation which can be difficult since he often asks super complex questions which leads to an awkward silence while the class silently picks a sacrifice to give an answer that usually just disappoints him. The assigned readings vary in quality, they are sometimes interesting, sometimes really boring, and usually difficult to follow. The majority of work in this class each week is doing the readings, they usually took me about 2-3 hours each class. There was a super easy geography quiz that you are required to pass, two papers, two short presentations, and a midterm. The Professor tells you everything that will be on the midterm ahead of time so it's pretty easy as long as you prepare. The first paper is 4-6 pages and the last one is 5-8 pages. You are screwed on these if you don't do the readings and pay attention to lectures. I did both and it still felt like I was just making stuff up to get to the required length. That being said, he grades them pretty leniently, I got a B on the first one because I didn't take a very risky position and an A on the second one. The presentations are pretty easy, just read the material and come up with a few good questions. Professor Leonard teaches this course at a very high level, but doesn't expect too much from you. Do the readings, show up, and put effort into the assignments and you'll probably end with at least a B.