HIST 3281

I would highly recommend this class! Rossman is nice and very knowledgeable. He's sort of a serious guy, but the topic is so serious and interesting that you're pretty captivated during his lectures. I would definitely recommend going to his office hours and talking about the material because he has some good perspectives to add. There is quite a bit of reading, but you can get away with not doing it all and just skimming the non-textbook readings enough to contribute to discussion. Everything on his exams is from the lectures, although the readings are good to further elaborate on what he says in lectures. Even if you don't do that great on the exams, your grade can easily be brought up by doing well on the discussions and papers (neither of which are too hard). Overall the class is fair and the material is really interesting. Not only do you learn about the facts about the case studies, but you learn a lot about humanity and human nature that you can apply to other topics in your life.

Hands down the best class I've ever taken at UVA. I wish that I could take it again, Rossman is a fantastic and incredibly knowledgeable professor. You must go to lecture (not sure why you wouldn't want to as he is probably the most captivating professor I've ever had), cause that's a good amount of what is on the exams. Readings and lectures were always interesting. It is not an easy A at all, but if you are at all considering taking this class, I would urge you to do so.

This course was extremely interesting and the readings are enjoyable. That being said, there are a TON of readings assigned and unless you are a history person (unlike myself) you will feel overwhelmed by the amount of reading you have to do. There are three papers that you have to write throughout the semester and those aren't bad. There is only one midterm which was ID's and one essay so definitely manageable. The final is extremely overwhelming because there is only one midterm so you have to review a ton of information. The actual test wasn't too terrible though. Discussion is 30% of your grade so DO NOT TAKE AN 8am FRIDAY DISCUSSION. REPEAT DO NOT!!!! This will ruin your life and ruin your Thursday's and do not lie to yourself and think "I'll just push through it". NO. Do not attempt this. I worked extremely hard throughout the semester, did most of the readings, studied for many many hours and am hoping to get a B for the semester. Not worth it unless you enjoy history, death, and a shit ton of reading.

Professor Rossman is great, and even though genocide is a really depressing topic he makes the class interesting. There is a lot of reading in this class. I am a history major and I have taken various classes dealing with some of the class subject matter, but If I came in with no background information and had to learn everything from scratch I can see how this class could be VERY overwhelming. Participation is a big part of the grade, so be sure you have something meaningful to contribute to each discussion. The final was 40% of our grade, which is a little daunting, but if you start reviewing little by little a week in advance it's not as bad. That all being said, I would still recommend this class, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has not taken a history class at UVA before, unless you like a challenge.

This course is awesome - I learned so much and Rossman is one of the best lecturers I've ever had at UVa. There is a lot of reading, but no more (I thought) than your average upper-level history class and if you're smart about it, you can get away with not doing all of it. Overall, I thought the workload was very manageable. That being said, I'm a 4th year history major...if you have no background in any of the areas covered in the case studies (Holocaust, Stalin, Mao, Yugoslavia, etc...) this class may be significantly more difficult. The three 600 word papers take no time at all if you attend lecture and do the reading for that week - if you answer the questions directly you should be fine. There is quite a bit of information covered on the final, so start studying in advance. Overall, I'd certainly recommend this course because its fascinating and more relevant to "modern times" than most history courses, but it's definitely not easy.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.