Great course. You first have some thematic background about utopian ideologies, then you move into case studies covering: Native American genocides, Armenia, Stalin, Nazi Germany, Mao's China, Pol Pot, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda. The course finishes with more thematic lectures about topics such as international justice.

The course is graded on a) discussion participation b) three short papers c) a midterm and d) the final. Discussion participation is straightforward. The short papers are annoying but you will get the hang of it. The midterm and final are standard for a history class, IDs and some essays.

Rossman is a great lecturer although he tends to fall behind a bit. There are no real surprises on the tests. The biggest problem with the course is you end up spending a lot of money on books that you only partially read, and ultimately they are not necessary. Overall, great course and really important topic.

I thought this course was superficial in that it did not dive beneath the surface on any of the case studies.

This professor is so intelligent and the class is really well-run. The professor does go off on a couple of tangents that put us a little bit behind schedule during the class but I think these little distractions are still helpful because he knows all of the ins and outs of every subject possible in this subject. This class is definitely very challenging but it's also probably my favorite class this semester. You get out of it what you put into it. So if you do all of the reading (there's a lot), you'll probably do fairly well in this class. Also, it's a lot of information so it's important to review as you go and to take notes on what he's saying, not just on lecture slides. It's the hardest class I've taken at UVA so far but I definitely really recommend it, especially if you're interested in human rights.

took this class cause i thought it would be pretty interesting to learn about. Prof Rossman is super pretentious and you can barely even understand half the things he says, also super monotone so difficult to pay attention to. he also has 0 relevance to the class other than just giving lectures. doesn't do grading, barely holds office hours. also had the worst TA of all time, Tom Butcher. there was 1 TA for a 180 person so it took him light years to grade anything. didn't receive one grade before add/drop or withdrawal deadline so I had no idea how I was doing in the course. consists of 3 paper a midterm and a final. he's a super hard grader and also pretentious af just like Rossman. you basically have to teach yourself everything in this course by doing all of the 20 readings assigned per lecture. also had to spend what felt like over $500 on all of the books this class requires. definitely would not recommend.

Rossman is the best! He made so many references to what is going on in politics today (with the election) and related it to history. He is so interesting and I would recommend any class with him. Unfortunately the TA was a very harsh grader and I think it made my grade worse than it could've been. Would definitely recommend though!

Incredibly interesting class. Rossman tends to ramble and go on tangents during lecture, but overall does a good job at relaying a hard topic. There is quite a bit of reading in this class, but it is manageable. The midterm and final can be a bit tricky- but as long as you study your notes from lecture and the reading you will be fine. The last part of your grade is determined from discussion participation- which includes brief writing assignments based on the readings. Not terribly difficult, and very enjoyable.

This class was my favorite class this semester. Although there are quite a lot of readings and the assignments (three essays, one midterm, one final) seem to be difficult to do well in, the material makes it worth it. It is a history class and you cover about 8 case studies, but you also cover different ideologies (race, nation, class, utopia, etc) at the beginning and other aspects (social psychology, denial, remembrance, justice) at the end that pertain to the issue of genocide as it applies to our world today. It is a very compelling, difficult course not just academically, but also personally and morally, and I think that not getting the best grade is still worth taking this class. Also, participation in discussion section is worth 30% of the course grade, which can really help boost your grade, so make sure you take advantage of that and sign up for an evening, rather than morning discussion (it's pretty hard to actively engage at 8AM). I would honestly take this class again in the sense that these kind of classes are hard to find, but worth so much.

This class is very intense. Professor Rossman is great, but speaks very fast. For good notes, instead of just writing the slides and then listen to him, write only as he talks. The class is a lot of reading. The midterm covered heru, Armenian Genocide, and Stalin, but could be different each semester. Make sure to take notes from the reading and talk about what the author said in discussion. Discussion is a big part of your grade. The midterms and tests were a lot of writing. They generally included Identification words, where you define the significance of a word and then essays. Memorizing dates and names aren't as important as applying concepts from reading and notes to the case studies. Interesting course overall, just a lot of reading and 3 short papers throughout the semester.

Professor Rossman was a solid, albeit dry, lecturer. The subject is very interesting and Prof. Rossman clearly knows his stuff, but he doesn't necessarily give riveting narratives with his lectures. That said, he's a very nice and very smart guy. There are 3 2-page response papers, a mid-term, and a final. Participation in sections also counts for 30% of the grade, which is a grade booster if you attend and speak a few times each section. I put in A- effort and got an A- so I think the grading is relatively fair. I would recommend taking this if you want to learn about the subject (which you should). Maybe not if you want to be blown away by the lectures.

This was a pretty good class, but not as interesting as I had expected. The beginning of the year was really boring, but as the class picked up and got into case studies of genocide it became more interesting. Professor Rossman is a good teacher and clearly knows the subject very well, but his lectures can be really dry, and you really need to be at every one to get a good grade in the class. I would take this class if you are really interested in history, but if you are just looking for a fun/fascinating history requirement this is not the one to take.