POLSCI 1000
American Politics
In a polarized era of American politics, it is critical to have a working knowledge of the American political process and the analytical skills with which tointerpret contemporary events. This course is designed to accomplish these dual objectives. In the first few weeks of the semester, we will explore boththe key principles of social scientific thinking and trace the evolution of the fundamental characteristics of American government. We will use thisfoundation throughout the remainder of the semester to assess the contemporary challenges to American institutions and the context in which they, andthe general public, make decisions. At the end of the semester, students should be able to understand and critically engage with information about American politics, as well as actively engage with the American political system (should they choose to do so).
Instructors
Reviews
Prof Christenson is a great lecturer, and I enjoyed attending his classes. He cold-calls in class by going down his attendance roster randomly, so make sure that you show up to class having done the readings. The exams are pretty straightforward and based on the textbook. The lecture is a reiteration of the chapter, but usually entertaining.
5/4/2026
Love Dino, great professor. Gets too much hate, all you have to do is read and show up to class and you will do very well.
4/20/2026
This class was overall fine. His lectures were usually interesting, and grading was generous. That said, his socratic cold-calling makes lecture attendance almost required, although technically it is not. He also bans all single-use plastics and styrofoam in his 200-person lecture, which is something. Subsection is a complete waste of time.
12/23/2025
As long as you read the textbooks you'll be fine. tests weren't very hard as long as you have a basic understanding of American politics. lectures can be hit or miss but you have to attend because he uses cold calls students from the attendance list. but dont stress he doesnt expect you to get the answer right it's just a way to take attendance.
12/17/2025
dino is cool but his lectures are pointless and hard to take notes,his exams are heavily based on the textbook(which is long as HELL) pretty hard to study for exam. weekly quizzes are completion grades BUT DO THEM! go to subsection and lecture for participation bc those points rlly matter. he coldcalls so do read before class
12/14/2025
Not a great professor, he has boring lectures but makes it mandatory to go because of his socratic method (you never know when he will call on you). If you have some basic knowledge of the US government, you can do fairly fine but still would not recommend (he is hot but that doesn't make up for his bad teaching)
12/12/2025
He is a good professor, the class is very test heavy but they are pretty easy as long as you read the textbook, it's purely over the textbook. He uses the roster to randomly call on people for attendance but the overall class isn't bad at all. His lectures are kind of fast so its hard to take notes, but just read the textbook!
12/4/2025
He is a really nice professor if you go to his office hours, super caring. Tests are hard, with lots of details and complicated questions. Interesting lectures. Readings can sometimes be tough.
11/15/2025
Dino is a chiller. He gives clear, concise lectures that cover pretty much all of the class content. Go to class, scan the textbook, and you'll be fine.
11/14/2025
I love polisci and was excited for this course, but the lectures just aren't cohesive and make it impossible to take notes. He's super nice and funny, but just spouting random sentences with weird slides. I had to read the entire textbook for tests because he gives you nothing in lecture and no practice quizes or another quizes at all.
11/4/2025
Great lecturer. I rate Reeves highly as a prof, but I didn't like POL101. Conceptually not rigorous, but tests can be hard due to memorization of readings. The 1 test I read textbook was easy, but I didn't for rest and scored average. I bet his upper levels are great, but I don't recommend 101 if you have other hard classes and don't want to read.
12/19/2024
The lectures are unrelated and pointless, I had to read and take notes on every assigned textbook chapter before each exam, sometimes getting up to 200 pages. The TA study guides are hit or miss, so I couldn't rely on them. The exam questions are badly worded and super specific, it felt like no matter how well prepared I was I would still get Bs
12/17/2024
i stopped attending class after exam 1 and i never read the textbook, i just used the grad TA's study guide and I got an A- . Your grade is mostly based on the 4 exams throughout the semester but is heavily boosted just for attending subsection. lectures are fun and interactive but don't contribute much to what you need to know for the exams.
12/16/2024
Good lecturer but very disorganized. Most of the learning comes from the textbook rather than lecture. The majority of the points come from the four multiple-choice exams. Unfortunately, review material was posted way too close to the exam dates, and exams took more than two weeks to be graded. Very nice professor though and easy to work with.
12/15/2024
Great lecture and very easy, essentially just graded by test scores.
11/25/2024
4-6 hrs/week
Easy class to take with a study group. Basics from high school just a little more in-depth.
6/13/2024