Crazy, strange, very intelligent, witty/humorous, knows his ****, quotes austin powers and the godfather and he's very philosophical, approachable....great guy and great prof

A good prof who doesn't tolerate **** in class. Good in a 500 person lecture, but not sure I would want a seminar with him.

Quirky and funny, but it won't make his boring material more appealing. Also speeds through his very long slides like it's the end of the world

Kopstein is witty and makes the material very interesting -- he's a good lecturer, although the downside is that he knows he's a good lecturer

knows he's the ****, and is a wry **** but that meks him so much hotter. assignments were way too difficult for first year.

HE ROCKS!

Material is not the most appealing subject, but he's pretty clear about it. And people, you weren't supposed to copy the slides, you were supposed to take notes off the lecture.

Overall, he's a nice guy and knows his stuff, but he picks some of the WORST t.a's!....I had to appeal everything, and got higher marks!

Nice guy, but he has the worst TA's on campus! Also, he's too hard for first year!

Extremely fluent in course material taught. Has some of the WORST TA's...so watch out for that. But overall, he's great speaker and his lectures are definitely worth going to. I enjoyed his class thouroughly!

Great lectures, good discussion. Not always available during the office hours. Overall enjoyable course. Go for it.

here's the truth on kopstein, he's a professor that can make dry material interesting (even if you hate the stuff), he marks fairly, he uses powerpoint for notes every week, and the books don't cost much. Take his course b/c you'll prob. get a good mark.

Great course. Excellent TA marker - received very helpful comments! I would recommend this course to anyone!

You can only have a professor like him once in a lifetime, both understandable and understanding. The class is very interesting and the conversations are led by him in an excellent and enjoyable way. He is the kind of professor that a student always remembers with respect and admiration.

Prof JK likes hot peppers! :P Great prof; very funny, very enthusiastic about material, very interesting, very approachable; GREAT JOB!

Asked for pepper. Ask and ye shall receive. Had him for POL 181 also, found him a good prof. Lecture style fairly engaging. Material maybe not so much. (European Integration? :/ )

He asked for peppers, so he's getting one. Kopstein is great. I have found him to be enthusiastic, engaging, intelligent and relitively accessible(especially for a departmental director).

GREAT PROF! VERY UNDERSTANDING AND INFORMATEIVE!

this prof is by far the best ive had in the past 4 years..hes intelligent, charismatic, funny and inspiring..he made what we were learning come to life..i would take his class over and over again if i could..if you have the chance to take his class do it - you wont regret it..

Amazing professor!! His enthusiasm is infectious and his sense of humour made the class even more interesting. Kopstein is also able to make the material relevant by relating it back to current events or his own personal stories, which bring the lecture to life. Awesome Prof!!

He's really funny, although a bit on the nasty-humour side sometimes. Good lecturing style, keeps you awake. Pretty good dealing with questions in class, listens to students. Assignments were a ***** though. Said he wanted lots of chili peppers!

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Kopstein's great! Always got through his stuff, always hits the major points, always answers all questions! only drawback about this course are the readings - a lot of them too boring and he hardly ever refers to them in class anyway. Overall though it's a great course and you'll have a great time!

A professor you will remember your entire university career, whether you like him or not. His arrogance would not be smiled upon if possesed by any other prof., but his sense of humour masks and justifies it all at once. Assignments are tough, though it's not impossible to get an A.

Kopstein was awesome.

An interesting course taught by a prof who knows what he's doing. The lectures -- for the most part -- were interesting even though the readings were horribly long. The TA was great help but Kopstein made the course material bearable. A recommended class for POL students. P.S. You can sometimes catch Kopstein on TVO.

Lectures are very interesting. There is too much emphasis on communism, Marxism and Weber and not enough on comparative politics from a Canadian perspective.

Great teacher! His lectures are amazing!

Awesome. He is one of the best profs I ever had.

An excellent, intelligent, and commanding professor worthy of your mind.

Excellent lecturer, plenty of enthusiasm. If you can't understand the concepts the way he teaches them you shouldn't be in university.

My favourite prof during my 4 years of undergrad. His lectures were very clear and organised and his jokes made them enjoyable... it was like 2 hours of stand-up comedy. The one class in University that I never skipped.

By far my best lecturer in 1st year! His lectures were organized, interesting and fairly clear. And if he wasn't lecturing the guy could be a stand-up comedian! His dry humour is priceless! Only criticism is that we barely did anything on Canadian politics. Still, Kopstein will definitely go down as one of the epic profs at U of T.

Good prof, interesting lectures, allocates lots of time for questions, course title is misleading (has little to do with Canada), final exam was almost identical to last year's and was easy

Incredible prof! Presented class with interesting and valuable material. Definitely a comedian....I laughed more than I took notes...but the lectures stuck!

Lectures very funny and informative. Actually looked forward to class, tho it was at 9am. TA was surprisingly good. Be sure to look at previous years exams.

The best Prof I've had yet. If you go to lecture, you'll be fine. Extremely clear, and also very entertaining. I actually wanted to be in this class at 9 in the morning.

My favourite professor by far! I think he is the only one who could fill an auditorium at 9 in the morning. I really enjoyed going to lecture. He is smart, funny, and pretty damn attractive.

An amazing prof. Smart, funny, great speaker, clear. As a first year student, I am honoured to have him as my instructor for a course i'm very interested in. I really like the way he presents the material, in a very naturally flowing speech that shows he understands it very well and i learn well in that manner.

An amazing Professor, smart, funny, entertaining, and engaging. He brings the material to life. He comes across like a hard ass at times but he isn't, show him respect and he will show you respect back. Certainly his expectations are high and the work load is heavy. He is a fundamentally decent man. I have the highest regard for him.

He is excellent at explaining his material. Whatever he explains, you understand. He commands respect and demands competence from his students.I see that he shows off unintentionally and spontanously (which adds to his humour and charisma), and even then he's honest about what he doesn't know! He has to go down a bit on the showing off.

If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be in European Studies. Also, his enthusiasm for the course material was very encouraging for me to do the readings and actually pay attention. Great prof and I like the way he lectures.

A touch egomaniacal, but he can be quite engaging to listen to. Heavy workload to start with, then quickly lightens up. Does have a good sense of humour. Always chats with students on the lecture break, only clashes with the egomaniacal students. And he IS an expert on East European politics. Interesting guy, whether you like him or not.

Memorable jokes, pretty cool guy

The ONLY reason I wake up at 8 AM... ever... is for Kopstein's class. However, since it's supposed to be a world politics course, I would appreciate not ignoring the entire continent of South America...

Smart and witty.

HILARIOUS guy, extremely down-to-earth, casual but not sloppy, definitely unforgettable.

LOVED HIM. He may seem arrogant at first but you will love him for it. Very intellegent man and does allow student to voice opinions and ask questions. He corrects and makes jokes when approriate. The TA's are not the greatest but you will love going to lecture so don't worry! Highly recommended! Perfect for first year students :)

Kopstein teaches the only intro course at UofT now because no other prof can do it the way he can. He brings the reading material, which is heavy, straight to the student. It makes sense when he presents it, so don't miss lectures. Talk to him before writing essays. His TAs are all exceptional btw.

Brilliant lecturer. Funny, intelligent, charismatic. Very easy to remain focused and concentrated in class. Also helps that the subject matter is great.

awesomeeee interesting teacher!

Fantastic lecturer. Thought I couldn't love polisci more then I came to his class and was proved wrong!

Kopstein was an excellent lecture. He took readings that would otherwise be dry (i.e. Weber), and made them relevant and interesting. Also, his humour, wit, and dry sarcasm made the class memorable.

He seemed arrogant at first, but hey, that's Kopstein, he's the same with other profs. Enlivened the Weber & Marx material. His tests are essentially lecture based, so pay attn! With a little effort & attn, an 80% is in your future. Caution: TAs may mark hard on 1st essay, but are easy on the 2nd.

A decent presenter but his thinking is too black/white, and the lectures were too dumbed down. He likes to be dramatic and spends alot of time explaining the moral failings of the Soviet Union rather than describing their organization, and telling us how we do not understand what it is like to "live in fear" (like in the cold war).

Charismatic. If you don't care for politics, he'll still keep you enthralled. It was a thrill and a pleasure to listen to him lecture for 2 hours.

I had him a few years ago for POL103 - now he teaches POL101 with another Prof. Kopstein is very smart, knowledgeable, and one of the best Profs at U of T. He is not easy. Jumping into Marx and Weber in 100 level course is tough. However they new course POL101 maybe easier?

Excellent lecturer. Engaging, charismatic, intelligent. Initially, he came across as rather arrogant and intimidating, but overall, challenging and compelling prof.

He's interesting and good looking but I got no real knowledge out of him. He keeps on talking but you don't really take notes or anything. Nevertheless, he's quite interesting and funny.

Took this class a couple of years ago before POL101 was created. He is the reason I am a Poli sci major; easily one of the best profs at UofT. Pulling an A- wasn't that difficult.

Great prof; funny and passionate lectures; makes politics interesting. His attempt at a Canadian accent = definitely a highlight of first year. Signed up for the class thinking I'd drop it and ended up majoring in Political Science instead.

Did a great job of explaining the materials. He is a brilliant speaker but can very easily be mistaken for being arrogant. Doing the readings (all online, no textbook) will do you great service as the exam is mostly based on it. Marking can be harsh b/c of the number of students in the class. Attend tutorials and take advantage of your TA!

Kopstein may come off as arrogant, but he's a really fun professor. Totally enthusiastic and has a great sense of humour. While I'm not much of a politics person and sucked at the class, I was still so engaged during his lectures. DO YOUR READINGS!

One of 2 lecturers in the course. Early on asked the class of 1500 "who here is a communist?" One poor sap put his hand up and Kopstein replied "Your responsible for x million deaths" Besides that strange interaction,a prof whose lectures I looked forward to. Clips form Failsafe and Dr. Strangelove, a unique analysis of the pogroms, and civil war.

Loved his lectures. They are straightforward and helpful. It would be more helpful if he could upload the lecture slides.

Hilarious and brilliant Prof. His lectures are clear, and he makes the content really interesting. He always breaks for 15 minutes to take questions from students, and provide further insight. His sense of humour is often mistaken for arrogance, but he's really just having fun with lecture and his students.

Best prof at U of T! Makes class interesting and engages the students. Really funny too!

LOVED KOPSTEIN!!! Amazing professor, really knowledgeable, has Q&A sessions during lectures to clear up any confusions. His lectures are really clear and interesting, and he also gives a lot of current modern day examples to tie it to the lectures. Loved loved loved his lectures! One of the best profs at U of T.

I had Kopstein for POL101 but you really get to know him well in the smaller 3rd year classes he teaches. Lectures are engaging and his interpretation of politics is quite humorous, though his views might offend some. His tests draw heavily from lectures, and his teaching style is very clear. Be prepared to participate.

Good professor; sometimes a little esoteric and perhaps a little wobbly on the purpose of the anecdotes, but overally extremely knowledgeable and funny.

The kind of professor that makes me want to give him a great review, despite not liking him that much. He took too many questions, and went off on tangents, but his lectures somehow exude quality anyways. Take his class if you have a chance.

A real educator! He's pretty religiously biased and quite offensive, so brace yourselves. But if you think critically and ask questions, you'll really benefit! This class was my introduction to political science, and now i'm in poli-sci for grad school!