MUSI 102 Popular Music in America. Fall 2011. Professor Carrie Delaney

music.gmu.edu

I was amazed at how much I enjoyed taking this course with Professor Delaney. Listening to Delaney lecture is like music to my ears (pun intended).  Her discussions of the development of popular music styles in the U.S. brought together an array of concepts that enhanced the critical listening skills of the class.

Delaney began as a public school music teacher and after receiving her M.M in Music Education, she began to teach at Mason.  She is currently pursuing her doctorate in order for her to permanently teach.  Delaney's passion for teaching is reassured when her students leave her course thinking critically when it comes to listening to music.  

To do so, she assigns projects that are enjoyable to a student's particular choice of music.  I have not had the freedom to choose the topic of my assignment that often, but Delaney encourages diversity.  

“We’re all not going to like country or rock music," she said. "The projects give you the chance to put yourselves in the producer’s position while choosing the artist or genre of your choice."

Delaney adapts the teaching of music as new music is developed and new technologies to create music is introduced.  When I asked her what she thought of computer-generated beats compared to playing an instrument, she said that it is a skill knowing that technology that it becomes an instrument.  

I asked about what she thought about most students rating her class as an "easy A"(below).

“It may have seemed easy to that student, but they may have come in with more of a musical background than others in the class,” Delaney said.

Delaney has had students who have struggled in her class.  She dedicates herself to assists those students in perfecting their recognition of tones, forms, instruments, and musical influences.

I have never heard anyone speak so passionately about music until I learned under Professor Delaney. For that I thank her for the skills I have when I am critiquing the songs that are overplayed on the radio.

GOVT 300 Research Methods and Analysis. Spring 2013. Professor Delton Daigle

There is a perceived misconception about Govt. 300.   The course is not anything specific about government, but an approach to which you study government. 

I must confess.  I enrolled in this class in Spring 2012 and I withdrew from the class because I did not understand the importance of such a class to my major.  However, knowing what to prepare for, I enrolled a year later and passed the class while learning the value of the content that Professor Daigle wanted to teach me before. 

There is so much information, from multivariable analysis to distribution tables, to be told in this course that it can be overwhelming at times. Daigle has teaching assistants for the course in order to provide students support in learning to use SPSS.

While there are many resources available, Daigle believes students have a difficult time adjusting to the structure and content of the course.

“While many students dismiss is it as a stats class, it’s a course about how to use scientific method to study political questions,"Daigle said.

This upcoming fall will the first time he will attempt to offer the class as a distance education course. He is optimistic that the online class will be as effective as in-person teaching and it will include new resources such as short video lectures and tutorials.

From the end-of-semester evaluations, Professor Daigle has learned that Govt. 300 students do not like Govt. 300, which is not a surprise. 

One comment on RateMyProfessor describes how the course seems ambitious in its attempt to push all this information onto the students.

“Any way softer than I currently do is not valuable to the student," Daigle said Despite the fact that he knows he will get lower ratings, his students will get a better value out of the way he structures the class.  

He said, "I think the content is what I need to provide in order to provide a valuable understanding of the research process."

I tried to put the blame on Professor Daigle once, but then I realized that it is that class that is difficult, but not impossible.  Passing this course cleared the doubts in my mind I had on whether or not I should pursue this major.

For that I thank Professor Daigle for giving all of us Govt. 300 students the patience and skill set needed to study the tough issues in world today.

          

GOVT 103 Intro to American Government. Fall 2010. Professor Suzanne Robbins

          

"Curiosity," she said.  This was the answer Professor Robbins gave me when I asked why she decided to become a professor.   

After years of working on Capitol Hill and various political campaigns, Robbins believed she could make more of an effect on the world in the classroom, than in the political world.

Robbins was the first professor that sparked my interest in government. Learning government in high school is one thing, but to be taught the idealistic inner workings of the U.S government from its inception to the present from Professor Robbins was a honor.

Her engaging presence on the stage in Lecture Hall 1 startled most freshman students whom were afraid to be called on in class in room filled with 200 plus students.  Professor Robbins likes having students speak in class as it creates a diverse discussion.  However, colleagues who have audited her class feel there is more that she could do.

“My colleagues tell me that I should encourage more participation.  They say I should come off the stage and walk down the aisles…like Oprah,”

I remember my class never liked to speak up, including myself, so Robbins would always call on students from the roster. She is happy that more and more students have volunteered to speak in recent semesters.  

As a political scholar,  Robbins encourages students to read biographies because they show motivation and fact, as needed in the political world.  

One comment (below) complained about how challenging the class was for an introductory class.

Robbins responded, “I’m introducing you to college and everything about it is a challenge.”

She expects her students to go from mostly indifferent to being a little bit interest in American politics. Robbins expects at most that they become civic participants in America.

Robbins did want to part with some advice that she hopes her students will take to heart, “Everyone’s vote is equal to everyone else’s, that is what makes us equal, but don’t let anyone take that away from you.” 

Very well said. Thank you, Professor Robbins.

GOVT 132 Intro to International Politics. Fall 2012. Professor Eric Shiraev

          

I took Russian in high school for three years and in those years I read a book titled “Russian Government and Politics.”  I chose this book not because of its analytical coverage of dramatic changes in Russian politics, but for the fact that I could read the name of the restaurant on the front cover—макдоналдс—in Russian.  Who knew I would end up learning from co-author Professor Shiraev at GMU.

I was impressed by the amount of knowledge he had at his fingertips every class.  The beauty about his teaching was his comprehensive analysis on current events by looking at the past occurrences. Shireav has taught Govt. 132 for almost 20 years. In that time,  the international political landscape has changed tremendously and he has enjoyed every moment of it.

After reading his book, I asked him what other pieces of literature should students interested in international politics should read?

“I urge the students to look at history," he said.  "How can you begin to talk about the events of today with looking at the history of the region?”

For many students--I used to be one of them--history is not in the forefront of our minds, but if we are ever to deal with the issues of today, it needs to be.  To be educated in history is to make sure that we never repeat the failures of the past.

Since this class is taken by students as a general elective, most are expecting the course to be simple and not demanding.  I asked Shiraev what he thought about students rating his class as extremely easy. Does he believe that the course should get students interested or should it be challenging?

“It depends on personality, good professors are the ones who are challenging and pleasant to students," Shiraev said.  Indeed, those are the professors you should be proud to take.

The one piece of advice that he wishes for students to take with them is to never accept questions uncritically; we should always ask why.  Cпасибо, Professor Shiraev.

And if you are curious about the current conflict between the U.S. and Russia, Shiraev believes that continued tensions between those countries could lead to a “New Cold War” era. I'm counting the days that this phrase will eventually appear on our news networks.

ECON 104 Intro to Macroeconomics. Spring 2013. Professor Garett Jones

Two years ago, I would have said that I would never recommend economics on my worst enemy.  What most people don’t understand—I being one of them—is that everyone is already an economist.  We make decisions everyday that rely on the minute understanding we have of economic theory.  This is what I learned from Professor Jones.

There is no amazement in telling you that Jones has a Ph.D. in Economics, but you would be surprised if I told you he began his academic career as a history undergrad. On the first class of Econ 104, Jones explained how important his B.A in History was to his critical thinking and that he wishes to give the same to us.

Jones wanted to be a professor because it was a way for him to think about big ideas all the time.  When he noticed that I seemed surprised by his answer, he told me that he was lucky to have the colleagues he has at GMU.  “Most professors at other elite schools don’t talk or share ideas with their colleagues,” he said. 

Jones has been teaching freshman economics since 2000 and he credits the advancements in technology with improving the teaching of economics.  However, he mentioned that watching his colleagues in the classroom was very educational for him because of the amount of students he saw playing Candy Crush and browsing Facebook.  

I proceeded to ask him about comments on his RateMyProfessor page.  As a side note he told he that women would actually look at his ratings before they went out on a first date with him.  I asked him if he expected students to describe him as insightful, entertaining, or passionate like the comment below.

"I always expected to be passionate and its great to hear that I can convey this material to students much younger than I am," Jones said.

Professor Jones left me with a little bit of insight for when I graduate.  He believes that education and human capital are essential to economic growth.  The next time I go to a college graduation, I must ask myself "How much of my diploma's value are they destroying?" Thank you, Professor Jones.

Oh, I almost forgot.  I wanted to ask Professor Jones about this comment, but did not get a chance to. I'll let you all decide if he does look like [Jared].  I am sure he would get a kick out of this.

Photo Courtesy of fresostatenews.com

Photo Courtesy of Mercatus Center