Very good and engaging professor. I couldn't care less about American government, but he at least made it make more sense and made it more interesting than I expected. Gives good (but long) study guides and practice questions. If you do the work, you will do well. Also posts his notes on line and does not require attendance.

Absolutely amazing prof. The exams were a lot of work, and there are map tests in addition to a paper. So be ready to work for your grade. He really cares about the students and will take time to help you if you go to office hours. His understanding of the subject is so good its scary. As a bonus he has amazing blue eyes.

Great prof. Posts notes, powerpoints, take home exams. LOTS of reading assigned, but the take home exams mean you know what you can skip.

Attendance is not required. The study guides are 250 questions of basic memorization, he draws around 30 for the exam. There are about 4 short answer questions on each test, again, if you just look them up before hand (on his online powerpoints and online lecture notes) and have a basic understanding you'll make an A. EXTREMELY passionate guy.

Posts notes on line. Tests are mostly memorization of basic info, all of which is on his website. You have to work, but there are no surprises.

energetic and interesting. tests aren't hard but the study guides are long. If I cared about American government I might have liked it more.

Great prof, but with a MAJOR warning. His assignments readings & tests assume that youve had the intro international class. This was my first international class and I was lost half the time. He helped a lot in office hours and he was understanding, but with lots of reading and writing it was tough. Take the intro first.

very, very, very good

Great prof. lots of reading and the class moves FAST so dont get behind early

GA makes you take this class to graduate so you may as well take it from a guy like Dixon who makes it interesting even for chem majors

Great teacher and interesting class. BUT... Assigns boatload of reading. Double the reading of next hardest class. Take home exams made it bearable, but this was twice as much work as any other class I've ever had. Hardest I've ever worked and still got a C. Perfect prof if he assigned less work.

Great class. Super straight forward. No BS. He tells you what he wants you to know and thats on the test. No tricks or mystery questions. Took maymester and the long classes sucked, but was worth it.

This was a great class. Very informational, his office is open whatever question needed. People who think negative about summer classes should think twice.

This was a great class. Very informational, his office is open whatever question you need. People who think negative about summer classes should think twice.

great prof. fair. no surprises.

good summer class, good lectures

Great teacher,not into politics but great class. TAKE MAYMESTER.during the regular school year i think he requires you to do more.I didn't read the book to be honest, I used the lecture notes he post to help me study. Made A's on all the test.I didn't have to take final. Maymester classes are long,but if its worth it. TAKE HIM

S-loads of work in the class, but he cares about how well you understand the material, not if every i is dotted. He makes you do a lot, but he's a fair grader and doesn't pick apart everything you do because you have a comma in the wrong place. He also talks to you like you're a person which not all the profs do.

Dr Dixon is the reason I'm a PoliSci major. Very str8forward with the entire class notes and extra stuff on CourseDen. He really wants to see his students get excited, and is himself very upbeat and current with the political world. Tests are not that hard if you study; map quizzes normally. TAKE HIM

Dr. Dixon is a GREAT professor. In my opinion, he is very easy going, cares about his students, and loves to teach and talk about anything: politics, history, economics, etc. He is simply one of the best profs. that I had at UWG. Also, he is one heck of a baker!

Great prof. Links the class ideas to things in the real world. Kind of has this laughing Buddha aura if Buddha knew a lot about international conflict.

Ideal prof for am govt. Day 1 he tells you what to do to get an A. No BS, no hidden agenda. He posts everything online. He REALLY cares about politics & you see the enthusiasm. Listen on the 1st day & do what he says and your set. wait til the last minute to start & your screwed.

Great prof. Makes dull subject interesting. Other posters are dead on about notes, study guide, etc.

Great prof. Recomend him to people who are interested in intl relations. He tried using electronic submission and the program UWG uses for that sucks so we had some problems but he made sure we didnt pay a price when the system messed up. Good prof and made class interesting.

Took him for Maymester. Great summer prof. Made the class easy to do in the short time. 3 tests, lowest score dropped, fantastic study guides. Wish all profs taught summer classes like he does.

good prof in lectures, tests were fair but mostly memorization

Full of energy and enthusiasm. He really, really cares about this stuff and wants us to care too even if he knows we will care less than he does. I went in expecting to be bored to death, but he made it interesting. He can get off the topic at times, but even these are usually interesting.

great prof. explains clearly and takes time to actually answer your questions. a fair grader.

study guide is exactly what is on the test. notes and slides on line. assigns three books, but you really only need the one that the scantron test questions are from.

If you are taking pol1101 in the summer, take this guy. Had him last summer for maymester. Perfect class. He tells you exactly whats he wants on day 1 and posts all his notes and powerpoints on line. His study guide is exactly what is on the test. Three hour classes suck, but you can knock the class out in two weeks.

If you think you will hate American Government, he's a good prof to take it from. He's interesting and he gets that you are probably only taking the class because you have to. The class isn't easy, but on the first day he tells you what he wants and he sticks to it.

Best teacher so far at West Georgia. He helps any way he can. He helped me get an A.

DrD is great, but he has high expectations for an A. Get ready to read, read, read...

best prof at uwg, period

Do not take his class and Dr. Peralta's at the same time. Lots and lots of reading, and very very very hard exams. Almost impossible to do both in the same semester if you want any chance at an A

Most ratings here are for the American Gov and his upper level classes are not like that at all. He's a great prof, the best or close to it in a great department.Problem is that he actually wants you to learn a lot in his class, so he assigns a ton of work. not really that hard, but it takes time. start his tests early

Great prof in that there is no BS. Day 1, his power points are up for the whole term. Study guides for all exams are LONG - but they have every question you will be asked word for word. Presidents quiz is nightmare, but just memorizing. Amendments quiz is free points. Class is lecture mostly. Paper is not too bad. Not much extra credit.

Professor Dixon is a phenomenal teacher. You can tell he is passionate about his discipline and it is contagious! The tests were all essay with questions posted well in advance of deadlines. The organization, structure, and expectations of his class were very clear. Overall, he's a laid-back professor who is great at what he does!

Great professor and fun to listen to. Be ready to read and write a ton.

An interesting class taught as a seminar so there was more class discussion then him lecturing. Lots of writing.

Probably the best prof I had at UWG. Smart to where its a little frightening. He isn't trying to be smart he just really really is. Take him and you will know what I mean. Six months after you are done with his class, you suddenly start to see that as much as you thought you learned, you learned more.

Nice to see the kool-aid drinkers on here. He's fair: he tells you everything he wants on day 1 and if he messes something up he doesn't punish you for it, which is nice. But... he assigns tons of books and his exams are LONG and his papers are longer. He's a cool guy, but he forgets that he's not teaching at UGA.

What you need to know: 1) He is as good as everyone says 2) He assigns as much reading as everyone says 3) His exams are as hard as everyone says.

Best prof at UWG. Lectures are recorded online (google him to check them out). Class is all discussion. Great for me since I commute and can listen on the drive. More writing than most, but its fine if you start early. A big help in office hours if you have questions.

Dr. Dixon is a great professor. Very thorough in his profession and can ramble on and on if you let him. I really enjoyed international relations after taking this class.

Dixon is an excellent professor. He sets clear standards and you always know what you are expected to do. The work is not hard, but you do need to keep up from the beginning. He is very helpful in office hours and takes the time to answer your questions.

Great teacher, very knowledgeable. Read book and take notes during lectures. Essay tests

A great prof even if you are not a polsci major. I took this class for upper div units and loved it. He relates everything to the real world and uses examples happening that day. There should be a core version of this class for everyone to take.

Always upbeat and welcoming. He obviously loves his work because he is extremely knowledgeable, to the point where you start to take interest as well. I was in the first class he taught at UWG and his textbook prices were outrageous. We discussed this with him and prices were cut in half the next semester! He really does care what you think.

The class was great. Lectures online and class was for discussion. We each led discussions for one week in a group. Little scary but it did make you think about the reading more. Lots of reading, but exams are there from the start so you know what to focus on.

Good class. More work than some other profs but interesting. Exams are easy if you study.

Good teacher, mostly papers. He knows about the topic

Great class but lots of reading. Most work online.

Great class. Interesting and topical. I learned a lot in the short maymester class. A great arrangement for may course with partial online.

Good prof. Interesting course.

class was a big help. good info on campus stuff and very good online lectures about how to study, take notes, an other things. kind of dull but the info was helpful

tons of reading and lots of books. assignments are long, but the questions are in the syllabus so you know what reading to focus on. learned lots about foreign polciy.

Interesting prof. Seems to really want you to see government as important.

He is very funny, you only have to show up once a week, and he doesn't even take attendance but there is no point in going to class. he doesn't teach the material in class. All we do is talk about current events. Nice guy but you should take a different teacher.

The discussion in class was my favorite part. My first core class that talked about the real world. OK, it wasn't on the test, but I'll take an interesting discussion over a boring lecture any day. If you just want to know whether to mark A or B, he's still great since he tells you EXACTLY what's on the test. Best of both worlds in my book.

I took this class my first semester in college and it was tough adjusting to doing everything on your own online. He only makes you come to class once a week and the tests are the quizzes so as long as you do the quizzes you will get a 100 on every test. very easy class

Dr. Dixon is an awesome teacher. I've taken him every chance I've had. He's very intelligent in his discipline and so helpful to students. His courses are clearly laid out but you really need to study. He makes Political Science interesting.

Great class. Dixon really knows what he is talking about. Lots of readings, but tests are take-home so you can prioritize. Super informative class.

I loved the class, but its kind of weird. He doesn't repeat what is in the book & the lectures are on YouTube. So in class we talk about how that stuff relates to things inthe real the world. If all you care about is the test, you probably won't like him. If you want to know how things work and why, he's great.

I've had this same teacher for about 5 classes and I got an A in all of them. He is straight forward with his tests, they are the same format for all his classes except American Government, and he is very easy. Just do the work and you won't fail. If you ever failed his class, you must have done nothing.

Professor Dixon is one of the BEST teachers I have ever had. He is very helpful and almost always available in his office. If you make an appointment he will be there to help you. For his final papers all though they seem lengthy, as long as you DO NOT PLAGERIZE, he is very helpful with proof reading and making sure you get a good grade!

Interesting class. Lots of assignments. about 40 pages of papers and exams

Took him in maymester for law and then in the fall for orgs. Good classes, lots of reading. Good at explaining the ideas.

Slow on giving feedback and grading but he's a busy guy. Always willing to help students and give advice on jobs and guidance for after college. Class met once a week i only went to class like 5 times the whole semester but the lectures are online. Essay exams which are 5 PAGES SINGLE SPACED so get ready to do research and write. Overall easy

I've taken a class with him each semester for two years. He's an awesome professor &he really cares about the material and helping those who want to learn. This year he seemed a lot busier and he was in a lot more meetings, but that seemed to be true of everyone. I'm looking forward to one more class with him before I graduate.

I thought the class was great but its not for everyone. Assignments online every week. Easy but you have to read and then do them online. Write two letters that talk about an issue. Final was take home & its all essay and that is where the lectures really matter. You have to keep up from the start and be prepared to do more than memorize the book.

I took Dr. Dixon for a Maymester Graduate level course. I had not taken a content based course yet for my degree (Education). I have to say that having Dr. Dixon was the best experience at University of West Georgia. He is absolutely clear on what he wants you to know, what he expects, and he has no problem with you "picking his brain." Great!!

Awesome as a prof in class & out. Clear about what he wants & what u have to do. Exams r long, but he gives u all the material on day 1, so u have plenty of time. He is also THE best person at UWG to talk to about getting a job. No BS & no fluff, just legit advice from the real world. I wish I talked to him when I was a freshman.

Took the class for elective because it looked like it might be interesting. It was a lot more work than I expected and some of the readings are hard, but I learned a lot and he took a lot of time to explain the hard things in class and in office hours when we asked. He really cares about students.

He is funny and understands what it is like to be in college for the first time. The class helped me a lot, especially with how to organize my time and approach college classes. He really helped with where to go to get help and letting us know that it was normal to struggle the first year. He's the reason I will still be at UWG next year.

Clear and simple class setup. Each week there are assignments in the website, but as long as you do the work it is easy. He has it all laid out from day 1 so you know exactly what to do and when its all due. Lectures on YouTube are kind of long, but I learned a lot about why things work the way they do.

This was a fully online course and it was just not the same as when I took him in-person. He is still the same guy and he does what he can, but UWG's move to push more classes online robs us of the best part of working with great professors. This class was better than most online classes, but it was not the same.

Online class. Simple setup but there are assignments every week. The work is simple and it is really clear what you have to do, but you have to be sure to do the work each week. The online lectures are interesting, but they are really different from the book and they really only mattered for the final.

Had a weird schedule problem &I tried to find out how to fix it to graduate on time. My adviser &the registrar both said I was screwed & needed an extra semester. My friend said "Go ask Dixon". He listened, looked up my info &solved my problem. I am graduating on time because he took the time to help a student he barely knew. That's Dixon

Great professor. He works hard to show how the things in the course matter in the real world, even if we don't really see it or want to hear it. The digital book and online work made it easy to follow how the reading went with the grade, but the essay tests were harder and had to mix lectures and the book.

Good prof. Was very helpful when I had questions. The digital book took a little bit to get used to but the extra help was really cool. The tests are hard because you have to make an argument and it is not always clear what he wants you to say.

Took him for summer class. Lots of work, short time. The digital text was cool and as long as you kept up with the online work it is easy to do well. His tests are harder because they are essay tests, but he takes time to explain everything if you ask him. Subject is boring, but he tried hard to make it real.

I hate politics, but he was at least interesting. Half the grade comes from the online textbook, so be ready to buy it. At least it was pretty cheap.

Took him in the summer. Class is really simple: do the work and you can't fail. Half the grade is from the online homework, so you MUST buy the ebook. The online system is easy to use, so just keep up with it and you are set. The tests are harder because they were all essay, but there is a study guide.

Took in the summer. Half the grade was online work that was mostly just reading the book and taking the quizzes. Most of the rest was tests. Tests were hard with the lectures, book, and having to write a couple of essays. Basically if you do the work and have 12 a brain you should be able to at least get a B.

His class is harder than most, but it is worth it. He is one of the only faculty members that gets that we need jobs when we graduate. He gives really good practical advice and he can tell you exactly how his assignments help make you employable. Worth taking just for advice in office hours, but be prepared to work. work. work

Never had him in person, but the online class has a lot of reading. Learned a lot, but there was a lot of work. You have to post in the class every week and there are long exams and a long paper. You will read and write a lot more than with most other profs.

Took fully online for American Government. Not an easy A, but easy to pass. The work is basically a checklist in the online book. The work is not hard, but you have to keep up.

Great teacher! Funny and great lectures!

Not what I expected in American Government. Funny, slightly goofy but with a weird way of turning a joke about squirrels into a story of why democracy requires us to participate in order for it to work. Weekly work online is easy as long as you just do it. Study guides are VERY clear. Easy class IF you put in the work.

Great online class. There is a simple schedule with work each week. Do the reading and do the weekly work and your golden. Also, he does office hours via GoogleTalk, so you can actually talk to him live.

One of the coolest classes I've taken. It was in the summer, so the workload was high, but it was great. It is not a surprise that his classes are always full.

It was Maymester, so workload was insane, but it was really interesting. Only downer was that this was online. Would have been better in-class. Dixon does good discussions and this would have been a lot of fun.

Dr. Dixon is great professor, but the courses that he teaches should not be offered as online classes. Dr. Dixon is a professor who is better in an in-class setting. The grading for his online class took a long time, so patience was definitely needed on the students part, but the textbooks will help you every step of the way with tests and quizzes.

I agree that he is not the same online. What makes him great is his personality & his relentless enthusiasm. When you are in his class he just kind of assumes that you can be awesome at what he is teaching, but he is fine if you have other things that come first, so you don't realize your awesomeness. You just don't get that part of him online.

I'm not sure why people are complaining about online. You take online classes for convenience, not to get to know the prof. The class was clear. There was lots of reading and the exams were hard, but it was all there. When I had questions, he answered them. Grading was on the slow side, but no where near the slowest in an online class.

Took the 8-week short session and it was grueling. Lots and lots of reading. Lots of exams. Great content in the class, but it was a lot to do in a short time. Virtual office hours were great since I work 9-5 and normally can't go. I read more than I have ever read in a class for this course, but I learned a lot more than usual too.

Took the class in the short semester. Quick and easy so long as you read all of the requirements off the bat. Good course.

Took online in 8-week session. Simple class, but LOTS of small assignments due every week.

8-week format online. Got a pointless class out of the way fast. All assignments are clear and posted on day 1. Just do the assignments and don't get behind. Easy A if you just do the work.

Like others, took the 8-week online. Class was boring, but the clearest list of what to do I have ever had. Final exam is all essays, so it is very different from the rest of the work, which is basically all just online activities. It was a little jarring, but it was not too bad.

Had to take this class and the 8-week term meant it was over fast. Easy class if you do the work from the start. There is a checklist for each week. Do that and you are set. It takes time and you do have to do the work, but that is it.

No interest in the class, but need it to graduate. 8-week was easy way to knock it out. Lots of small assignments. The QEP was a stupid assignment, but as long as you do both essays, you get full credit for both of them. I actually liked the online work. Just read and answer the questions. Like others have said: just do the work.

Had Dixon for 1101 and then 3501. Not the same thing at all. 1101 he is teaching so that the typical freshman can at least pass. Easy class if you do the work. 3501 was totally different. Much harder and all essay. So, if you are looking at reviews, be aware that it makes a big difference which class you are in.

Interesting class. The online lectures were LONG. Hybird is a weird model, but I work, so it was the only way I could take it. The 1st exam took 3 weeks to get back (in Sept) and everything else were due the last month, so there is a lot of uncertainty as to where you stand until the very end. Stressful, but interesting class.

Lots of work. 3 online quizzes every week. You absolutely have to buy the online book because the quizzes are in it. Online lectures, but they don't really matter until the final exam, which is all essay. I learned more than I thought I would.

Simple class, if you just do the work. You MUST buy the online bookand start working the first day. There is a lot of little work to do every week. Otherwise the class is easy.

The book is an online set of readings and assignments. You have to buy it and the bookstore was sold out before class even started. Assignments are not hard, but be ready to spend a couple hours a week, every week.

Amazing professor, the software used for this class actually makes you look more into Politics and it is so well updated! Definitely email friendly. A super easy A just have to be consistent with work.

Great professor. Online class, but used an website from the book publisher. Much better than CourseDen. Lots of small assignments so you can space them out over the week. The Google Hangout office hours were great since I work during the day.

Course software made it easy. Lots of work, but in small chunks so it is great if you have a job. Online lectures were interesting, but would be better if he made them shorter. Do the work, keep up, succeed.