2.3
Quality4.4
Difficulty20%
Would Retake141
Reviews20%
Would Retake
141
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
20
4
17
3
19
2
30
1
55
What Students Say
“Lipson isn't a bad person, but he is a bad professor”
205 - 3.0 rating“Most of our class failed the midterm”
POLI205 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
91%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.11 avg changeRatings by Course
INTLORGS
5.0
(1)INTORG
5.0
(1)POLI
4.0
(5)INTREL
4.0
(1)404
3.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
404
5.0
POLIPOLI
5.0
INTLPOLI
5.0
POLI498
5.0
POLI404
5.0
Reviews (141)
very good teacher. amazingly clear. knows his stuff. makes a strong effort. didn't like him so much at first, but came out extremely impressed.
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Good at heart, he even watches buffy! Anyhow, seems to me he reads off his notes. Sorry!
don't think he knows why he is teaching
*****WARNING*****
He's not a bad guy but I wasn't crazy about him as a teacher. He's very uptight and nerdish. If I was grading him I'd give him a C.
i got more out of his poli 205 class then any other class in university... but i REALLY didn't like his poli486b class. he's very good at explaning concepts and he knows his stuff. he gives really difficult readings though.
Dr. Lipson is pretty good at explaining concepts and knows his course materials very well. Unfortunately, he needs to find more imaginative wasy of conveying the information: readings and lectures aren't enough!
Prof. Lipson really knows his stuff, however I wish there was more discussion. He is a very fair marker. Also he is really picky about plagiarism. Watch out!
****** Do NOT TAKE *******
Professor Lipson is nothing but a geek that likes his stuff too much. He reads his notes all the time and is so unclear! Plus, he's a plagiarism seeker and enjoys catching people on small details, watch out!!!
A bittered guy who love searching for plagiarism; it seems that is his only passion. His lectures are boring.Advice: Avoid taking his courses.
He's a very good teacher. He realy knows his stuff in US foreign policy. It's not an easy class but very interesting!!!
GOOD TEACHER. GOES OVER EVERYTHING AND THEIR ARE NO SUPRISES ON TESTS. IF YOU ARE A SLACKER DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS, BUT IF YOU STUDY TAKE HIM. YOU WILL NOT PASS IF YOU DO NOT STUDY OR GO TO CLASS, WHICH IS A GIVEN. MATERIAL IS VERY EASY IF YOU GO TO CLASS AND STUDY. CLASSES TENDED TO DRAG ON.
totally sucks
Guys prof lipson is propably the 1 giving gooc comments about himself. I dont know anyone who had his class and wasnt disapointed. plz guys dont eaven think about. Seriosly.
He lectures to fast expecting us to catch every single word he says. He likes showing his geeky Buffy clips and is a kiler on plagerism...all in all, he knows what he is talking about but if you can avoid him, avoid him youll regret it.
Yes, the man is unquestionably dry, and he's the worst of the many draconian plagiarism hounds in the department. BUT there are really no surprises here. Lectures are clear and if you show up for class, take notes and do the readings there shouldn't be too much difficulty in getting a decent grade.
Avoid this prof. at all costs!!
Brutal grader! Picks at every detail! Nice guy, knows his stuff but is a BRUTAL grader and is extreme about plagerism! I would not recommend him.
Interesting class, knows the material, prepares you for the exams, a very fair marker... All in all very good teacher, I would highly recommend him. Note: Avoid plagiarism at all costs!!
i know its not for everyone, but if u r 1 of those ppl who go to university to LEARN, i recommend taking him. his knowledge of political theory and international happenings is as good as any prof in the department, and he's great at explaining concepts. Be REAL careful about writing papers for him tho, he's unusually/scary strict about plagerism.
EVERYTHING TO THIS MAN IS PLAGERISM. WHEN IN DOUBT SITE EVERYTHING. He braggs about how many students he has "busted" for the academic offence that is serious. this man is "bust" happy and normally the charges are based on nothing. I dont think he realises that every time a false accusation is made it effects the student.
THIS TEACHER MADE 21 STUDENT FELL.IVE BEEN DOING POLITICS ALL MY LIFE AND NEVER HAVE I GOTTEN AN F IN MY LIFE. He is going to regret it.Don't take him as a teacher, he really needs to wake up and realise that he sucks.
I thought Lipson was a great prof. I took his class to learn about Int'l relations and that is exactly what we did, to a larger and more interestiong scale than I even expected. People that say he is brutal and dry are just whining because it's not a bird course. It's not hard either though, just do the readings and take notes-no tricks.
If you cant spell fail then perhaps you should of FELLED!!!!!! I am tired of bad students ruining the images of good profs. This guy is an amazing prof and academic. Like every other young prof, he is hard. so you dont want to FELL and are not prepared to learn real material then dont take them.
DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR...HE IS AN EGOTISTICAL BUFFY FREAK WHO WILL DO NOTHING TO SUPPORT YOU AS A STUDENT AND LIVES FOR IDENTIFYING PLAGERSIM...OR AT LEAST TRIES TO SAY YOU PLAGERIZED JUST BECAUSE HE CAN...
he makes me sick. DONT TAKE HIM UNLESS U WANNA FAIL! he will try and catch u plagirising. even when u dont. so trust me this class will really afect ur mark and ur academic review of the school.
I found this to be a good prof. It's true that he's hard on plagarism, but this is his way of both preparing you for a possible future in academic writing and to weed out lazy students. He explains his teachings clear and often gives interesting analagies. You definately have to do your readings and go to class, but do that and you'll enjoy him.
it must be said that although he does want his students to work and attend class, he is just as demanding of himself. he structures the lectures very well and he explains the material by giving good examples and comparisons. Not a minute of class time goes by when you are not learning. great Professor!
THIS PROF IS THE BOMB!!!!!!! You brarey need to work or even attend class ... anyone whos got some brains can pass this class ! DONT plagiarize b/c he WILL catch you ... BUT you know your not suppose to do it anyways. So if you do you deserve to be caught!!!!!!
Take this class if you want to learn. Because you will and a lot! You are expected to keep up with the readings and there are suprise quizzes on them, so attendence is mandatory! But the classes are well structured and never boring.He is also very helpfull outside of classroom, and he even put pod cast class notes on line.What more can you ask for?
Honestly, i have a 3.7 GPA, i'm a good student, this teacher gave me a C+... Its the only C on my whole transcript! He is such a hard marker, its almost rediculous, of his class of 70 people, 23 failed and only 2 got an A, that tells you something about the way he marks. In my opinion, he is a horrible teacher, avoid him!
A so-so prof.His lectures are pretty straight-forward and structured, although I despise Powerpoint lectures (just my opinion). He tends to go on random rants in class which are completely irrelevant to the topic (about Star Trek, or some recent movie he's seen).He marks tough,but as long as you show up to class,and take good notes, youll be fine.
is a very hard maker the class average was a D- on our midterm, expected us to know 250 pages of journals in detail,and that isnt even including the text book! STAY AWAY!!
Terrible prof.Not a nice person. Bad attitude. AVOID at all cost.
Plzz Do Not take him...he is not approachable at all...and doesnt understand how to help students..
Now that I'm in grad school I realize that Lipson and the other hard/unpopular profs are the only ones that know what they are talking about and they give the low grades most ConU students deserve. If you have a perfect GPA and get a low mark from Lipson, ask why the other rent-a-profs at ConU mark so high or why you coudn't get into McGill/UdeM
This teacher is the hardest, unapproachable, imcomprehensive teacher you could get at Concordia. His exams were centered around students knowing in details apprx. 10 journal articles of about 20 pages each for the mid-term and final and also the texbook. The average of our class for the mid-erm was a D-. AVOID HIM! HIS A DANGER TO YOUR GPA!
To my fellow students avaoid this man at all costs.His ambition is to catch students plagerizing.. expects you to know in detail nearly 250 pages of journals and text book readings.Horrible proff should not be teaching
VERY UNREASONABLE AND UNFAIR. EXPECTS YOU TO KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE READINGS FOR THE MIDTERM. I WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS COURSE, BUT AFTER DEALING WITH THIS GUY, I'M WARNING YOU STUDENTS, STAY AWAY!!!
This man is unhelpful. He is unapproachable and has a very short temper. I watched him go off several times on students. He should not be teaching and has no interest in his students.
THIS GUY IS JUST ABSOLUTELY UNFAIR. I DONT KNOW WHY AND HOW HE EXPECTS US TO REMEMBER ALL THIS. I AM JUST SO FURIOUS AT CONCORDIA FOR KEEPING HIM ON THE FACULTY. HE IS AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE.
Horrible.
Lipson's a great prof. For all you complainers, you don't know the meaning of hard work and if you hate him so much... drop the friggin class already.
i'm here to defend him, cause i bet a lot of people didn't get it: it's a university class and he expects you to work hard. he is crystal clear in how he teaches. a great prof, and an excellent class. very tough, hard marker. you can't get by with ****. if you find this too hard go back to secondary.
Don't listen to the last two people who left comments, there prob like the professor, a big geek who has nothing to do but read. nearly 300 pages of articles and text for the mid term alone and other added material.
Don't do it. He will ruin your semester and kill your interest in the topic.
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Way too much readings and writings.. it's way too much! half of the students enrolled had to drop.. my graduation is delayed cuz i reg in this course and had to drop too. :( He knows some stuff but it's too demanding not considering students' ability and time.
Avoid this prof. I don't think he himself is a bad person, however his teaching style, is another story. Although his lectures and notes are very well structured, he has a lousy teaching style. He is boring and is way too high on himself. Grades harshly as well, gives too much work. But he is helpful outside of class.I ended up dropping the class.
Terrible in every regard.
Avoid this prof, theres other profs teaching most classes he teaches. He is a mean person who probably got picked on as a teenager, and now wants to take that out on students who do not deserve it. I do not think a professor who has the nerve to call his students pathetic which he has done should be teaching. AVOID HIM.
he is a good teacher, and knows what he is talking about. The bad aspect of this class is the reading; professor lipson assigns an undoable amount of reading (average of 150 pages a week)! I work hard but it is almost impossible to stay on top of the readings!
This professor is tough, that is very true. However, he knows his stuff, his powerpoints are crystal clear, if you are complaining about his readings then drop polisci... What are you doing there anyway if you don't like to read endless articles? Is really helpful out of the classroom.. only if you show you are worth it as a student. loves buffy.
good teaching skill but he doesn't care how much pressure he's put on his students and way toooooo much reading. impossible to get an A from this class
Do not take courses from the prof. Fair warning. He announced a week before the midterm that 50% of the grade would be specific questions on specific readings, of which there was way too much to cover let alone remember every detail. Whether he knows his stuff or not, his focus is on being tough rather than helping students. Avoid at all costs.
I agree that he assigned a lot of reading material, but most of it was interesting. If you want an easy A or are just plain lazy, don't register for one of his courses. My only complaint is that he didn't always remain objective with regards to certain issues.
Very boring teaching style, and very critical. He accused me of plagiarism, and then was found guilty, and ended up getting a 0 on that assignment. Which is fine, but he took to long to give me my mark and messed up my semester and now I cant register for a whole year. HE FAILED 28 students out of 48..NOT A GOOD PROF!!!
A good teach who definetly knows what he's talking about. Lectures are interesting. My only issue is that perhaps the reading is a bit too much for a 300 level course; it can be done, but expect to devote a lot of time to precise reading, as his midterm asks specific questions on them -about 250 pages of textbook, and about 120 pages of course pack
A lot of reading - expect to teach yourself the information. Why he's going over basic that students should have learned in POLI 205 is beyond me. Also - barely references readings in class; absolutely no clarification or further explanation of textbook/coursepack material - which is what the course is about...
This teacher prefers quantity over quality. Assigns 100pgs of reading per week, midterms involve knowing all the information assigned but only discussing a few concepts. He is fair on midterms and brutal on papers. The class is not enjoyable and the teacher is rather condescending at times.
Prof Lipson is fantastic, I have taken two classes with him and plan on taking another this coming semester. Fair grader, clearly inteligent man and interesting lectures. I recommend this prof to anyone.
Good techaer, terrible grader... I could not understand how I had a c- at his midterm when all my answers were correct. He does not only expect you to now half of the book's ideas, it seems that he wants you to wuote it word by word
The absolute worst teacher i have had in all of my years in school. Very condescending, rude to the student and terrible grader. He is very touch and explains nothing in class, he expects you to read and memorize 2 books and a course pack for the exams and the paper is needlessly tedious. AVOID.
Terrible prof. How is he employed?
Just awful. Avoid. If you have to take him make sure you understand before the exams what sort of answers he expects. Took a very interesting subject US foreign policy and made it my worst/boring class of the semester.
He is ok. Decent lecturer, but tons of readings and a very hard marker. If you write things that are right he will somehow find a way of docking points anyways..
He is definitely a very hard marker and the amount of reading for the class is insane. Don't take his class if you want to boost your GPA. Also, he is really into catching people for plagiarism. In all, I think that there are better classes in political science to take.
DO NOT TAKE THIS TEACHER. Or if you do, absolutely read 150 pages assigned every week otherwise you're never gonna be ready for the exams. But be prepared to be filed for plagiarism, 30/50 people got caught. AVOID, even though the topic of the class is very interesting.
Great Prof! Very smart and loves what he teaches. Not hard if you read the articles and understand their arguments. Only problem is that he's not very approachable.
JUST AVOID AT ALL COSTS. The average GPA of the class was 1.34. I retook the class and got a B+. He never went over the readings and then expected us to recall specific information while having to read over 400 pages for both the midterm and the final. He was not helpfull and was anal about plagiarism. For your sanity, stay away.
AVOID THIS TEACHER. Worst teacher in the history of my B.A. at Concordia. Spends more time telling us about how he knows the authors of the articles we had to read than talking the articles. Always talking about himself. he is soo hard on grading that I promise you after a semester with him you will get only A+ on your term papers with other teache
Not a nice guy. You can't hear a thing he says in class and is probably the most boring prof I've ever had. He explains concepts that have potential to be interesting in a dull and monotone way.
I found Prof. Lipson to be a terrible professor. Not only was he condescending and unapproachable, he was very slow at grading and gave incredibly limited feedback. For the first time in my academic life, I disliked attending class and found the way he operated to be unfair.
this is going to sound really harsh, i dont understand why concordia has this guy as a teacher. They must have a contract forcing them to keep this "teacher". his class is a boring one, and to make things easier for people to hate it, he makes a boring class become a hard one too. he's not teaching students, he's assumes you know it all. just bad.
Insane amount of readings. No feedback, and he assumes that we have no other things to do in our life than study for his course.
Prof. Lipson isn't a bad person, but he is a bad professor. His tests are infrequent, and punishing. We only received one graded assignment back, the midterm, which only 10% of us passed. Going into the final (worth 30%) 70% of my grade was unknown. Expect 100+ pages of readings per week spread over three articles, and testing to be very specific.
All due respect, the guy is the worst professor Ive had in my entire education. He made International relations the most boring subject that exists on earth. His lectures were incomprehensible, and he thinks that you only take his classexpect more than 100 pages every week. Half of my class failed the course, 71% failed the midterm.
The readings were VERY heavy and mandatory, course was more about the theories than the actual international organizations.
I have been a top student for my entire academic career and decided to drop Lipson's class so it would not affect my GPA. His expectations from students exceed what any normal person would have time for and his tests are ridiculously hard. Most of our class failed the midterm.
All I can say is that 80% of our class failed the midterm with a 33% average. Avoid this teacher he is absolutely the worst.
Avoid at all cost!! Worst teacher at Concordia, I am a usual A- student and for the first time in his class I got a D on a mini paper, which was totally uncalled for. He makes sure to set you up for failure!! Dropped out
Worst teacher you will encounter in your life. Too many pages to read for the next class and over 400 pages for the final. He is a tough grader and not very approchable. Avoid taking any classes with him or take him at your own risk.
Over 80% of the class failed the midterm. If you can take the other poli205 teacher do it, life will be easier
Lipson is not kidding around when he warns us that it's a reading intensive class. But if you're ready to do the work, you might have a good time like I did! He tells us exactly what he is expecting and explains well. The lectures are captivating and if you do all the lectures and attend class, you can do well. And get a lot out of the class.
Worst teacher ever
Barely halfway through the semester and he is just horrible.. we have to know pretty much everything for the midterm and the entire class did horribly on the first assignment, including me. AVOID this prof!!!
socially inadept
Totally avoid!!!! 85% of the class failed completely for the midterm and no need for a headache for an introductory course.
Hard class for an intro but not as bad as this site makes it seem, my only complaint is I have trouble hearing the guy
I managed to pull through and get a decent enough grade. But he was one of the worst professors I've ever had. Feedback was terrible. Confusing and contradictory instructions for papers and finals. Boring teaching style, unapproachable and condescending. I would seriously consider changing my major if required to take another class with him.
Extremely difficult, you'll learn a lot of the basics of theories as you'll do a lot of readings but your grades won't reflect that. Expects students to remember specific articles and how they applied the theory, etc.. Which is almost impossible to remember as there are 30-40 readings for the class. Highest grade was -A.
Michael Lipson is a horrible teacher for an intro course. He's unapproachable, a tough grader and he'll do anything to catch you for plagiarism, he's obsessed. He seems nice at first but his expectations of students is too much. He justifies himself by saying it's university expectations but doing 6hrs of reading outside of class is impossible.
After reading Lipsons grades I just sais nevermind because sometimes the way of grading teachers on this website are not objective. But for him its very different... RUN. I dont think he wants us to fail but he just doesnt care. The readings are very heavy and especially for an intro class it is really complicated to follow.
Class attendance was worth 35% of the class but the class is at 8:45 in the morning and he marks attendance based on ONE question that should be answered using an iClicker. He asks the question BEFORE class starts at around 8:40 and so people who show on time or a little later have no way to make up that percentage. Try find a different Professor.
WORST teacher I have ever had in my academic career. For an intro class (Poli 205) there are so many things expected of students where the majority most likely have just entered university.. There are literally 400+ pages of reading to do for the exams, and theres participation quizzes with the iclicker for every class. 80% of ppl failed. AVOID
Do not i repeat DO NOT TAKE!!most especially if you are taking five classes. he is not approachable and does not respond to questions properly. His classes are educative and I feel like the course would have been great if the work load was bearable. I will only recommend taking this teacher when you have enough time after school to study his course
To be honest, usually i dont believe most of the reviews on this site because 99% of the time they're clearly written by lazy people who dont want to work whatsoever. but boy was i wrong with Michael Lipson, i can say every rating here legitimately represents him. AVOID. he hilariously thinks his class doesnt require 6+ hours outside of class.
There is a lot to learn and discuss in this subject, however most (if not all) of the class is just a one-sided lecture, and that it makes the subject slightly boring. I also found points being taking off on papers for minor errors which is quite harsh given that some papers are graded out of 5.
I disagree with many of the ratings. Seeing them made me scared to take his class. But, I think he is a really great teacher! Funny, insightful and helpful. I took a SUMMER seminar course, and yes his classes are difficult. I am dying trying to keep up with the course load. But, his expectations are reasonable. If you're a lazy student, dont bother
Absolutely not recommended, the subject is very interesting but the problem is the professor. Lacks credibility with some of the course material. Doesnt encourage participation at all. Takes attendance first minute of the class, which means coming in late 5 minutes on a snow day will cost you grades. No feedback after midterms. Gives easy examples
Please DO NOT take any class with this person, the worst ever. lacks everything, made me want to drop out or change my major. Just from an introductory course. This person does not care about you, it made me feel terrible in each class. I wish i never experience such thing ever again in my life. PLEASE AVOID THIS PROF.!!!!!!
OMG - avoid this guy at all costs. He has such a bizarre style of teaching and is rude and unapproachable. For your own sanity take anyone else but him. Do yourself a favour. You will find yourself crying with the amount of readings this guy assigns. For reference, I am an A student and almost died in his class. Any prof is better than him!!! AVOID
Hard to reach outside of class, very tough grader especially during times where students have less accessibility to the universitys resources.
Pros: - Very knowledgeable - Very interesting lectures + material - Promotes participation with quizzes - Reachable + Stays after class for questions Cons: - Harsh Grader - Sometimes has a cold personality - LOTS of reading Class average was a B-, one of the most interesting classes Ive taken but theres a lot of readings
Took this guy in my first year and literally 60% the class dropped or failed. He failed half the class on the midterm so I dropped it after.
Knowledgeable in IR and gives extensive; very accurate lectures. HOWEVER, I have never met a human being as evil as him. He genuinely takes pleasure in screwing his students over and is open about that. It's hard to convey how much he enjoys it. Iclicker quiz EVERY class, midterm and final IMPOSSIBLE to complete in word count for a good mark. AVOID
This guy is the worst prof Concordia has. Cold-hearted, if you mistype a letter you will lose significant marks. Just do not take any class from him if you can.
Lipson is a very difficult professor. You won't get a single email response, but he still expects you to do amazing. He's very educated on what he's teaching, however the papers and quizzes are irrelevant to what he teaches.
he doesn't give any real instructions on how to write essays, you just have to know it. in the semester : 1 short essay + 1 midterm + 1 final paper + final exam + quizz question at EVERY CLASS + mandatory homework for every class
Never answers to any email sent, he is such a tough grader that he has to elevate everyones grade or nearly the entire class would fail, doesn't really show any care for his students.
He really doesn't seem like he cares in the slightest. Very lecture heavy and will not respond to e-mails, although his job is to be an educator, not an assh*le. He gives too many assignments and refuses to give his students a break in terms of the readings. Every class has a reading quiz, and he doesnt care about your technical difficulties. AVOID
He gives very big work loads and expects a lot of reading and homework, so don't take this class if you are lazy. He lays out the marking criteria very clearly and explains all topics very well. He is a hard marker, but if you put in a lot of work you can get a decent grade. he is very knowledgeable in everything he talks about and explains it well
the courses are long and relatively unentertaining ... Moreover, the homework is very hard, very long and not very well explained.
I would really love to give him a good review because I like his lecture style, but I just can't. His grading criteria is deeply unclear and he is an extremely harsh grader - he always wants more detail on papers and exams but he will not give you enough words or pages to do so. As other reviews say, a shocking portion of his students fail.
I wanted to give him a good review as a genuinely liked his lecturing style. Professor Lipson is very knowledgable in his field. HOWEVER, Professor Lipson is also one of the most awful and self righteous people I have ever had the absolute displeasure of knowing. They will make up excuses to strike you down for. They enjoy it! They are crule
Horrible human. I witnessed in class today Professor Lipson scream and berate a student IT reception worker on the phone over the projector not working and the working not being immediately able to solve it. 5 mins later IT worker comes in and turns it on, explains it's a coding issue and confronts him about verbally harassing a student worker.
I, along with about 50 other students, watched Professor Lipson scream at a fellow Concordia University staff member in front of the classroom today before begining his lecture. He is brilliant, but not a very good person. I learned a lot in his class, but have little to no respect for him. I wish he was someone I could look up to, but he is not.
I am following up on a previous review I left regarding Professor Lipson's outburst towards the IT worker. I stand by what I said in my initial comment, but would like to make it clear that he does offer a quality class. I have learned a lot in POLI205 and whether or not I think he is a commendable person, he does his job well.
Honestly a really good professor. His class is in fact heavy in terms of readings and there are periodic quizzes but they aren't that hard, nor are the exams if you've done your work. He's organized and interested in what he's saying, and the grades are well distributed, he clearly values work and not having his classes disturbed but it's bearable.
Extremely tough POLI class, especially for intro level. Tough grader with oddly cold personality but is very knowledgeable. Try to avoid, if not get ready to work... B's are possible, A's unlikely.
As much as I want to like this guy, his unapproachable nature and his extremely strict grading criteria makes him a "I have no other options" pick at best and "I am intentionally sabotaging my GPA" pick at worst. Do not take this course if you want to keep your GPA intact. Do not take any courses by this guy unless you have no other options.
Misunderstood professor who excels in small classroom setting such as seminars and graduate level courses. In small settings, he is very kind and probably less cold than in big intro classes. If you like intellectual challenges, take him. If you expect As, don't. I became a way better paper writer and researcher in his class due to his style.
Oh you got an A in a 400 level class? Lower your expectations for this class. Shit PowerPoints, goes off topic nonstop, and all he talks about is how he got arrested at the UN
Avoid at all costs!! Genuinely do not waste your time with Lispon, drop it if you have him. Impossible grader, gives no feedback, gives 400 level material in a 200 class. Longest lectures ever and never gets to the point until the last 5 minutes. Always says how he expects grades to be higher... but he doesnt teach properly save ur gpa trust me
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! Lipson is a very harsh grader, he is not shy to give out 0's. His 205 course consists of an in person midterm + final, two papers (which are pretty long and impossible for students to get reasonable grades on). He also makes you do Inquizitive activities. Save your GPA and take another prof. Not worth it at all.
If you have the choice just don't take his course you'll never understand anything and he graded so bad for no reasons
Lipson is one of the few no-nonsense professors at this school which is why he gets so much hate. He was my favorite professor this sem bc he snapped me into the reality that uni isn't something I could just bs my way thru. He shows no mercy but if you seriously put in the effort into learning the content, you WILL understand the basics of IR.
WORST PROF EVER. My friend reading this do not take this course.
worst teacher at Concordia. awful grader! give us our short essay assignment A WEEK before our final paper was due and failed 3/4 of the class. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!. So many people have already dropped the class. It's doable but you have to be ready for it. He does answer emails quickly but is so unclear with his grading scheme.
For an intro class in polisci + first semester, this was a very hard class. If you want a semi-good grade, you need to attend all lectures, take notes of everything and read every text that he assigned. If you want a reality check of a hard class in uni, take his class. But if you can, take another teacher.
This professor is the worst, the contents of his class might be interesting but he has the special ability to kill your interest in a second. This is my second class with him, and I regret every second spent, his readings are awful, and the way he teaches makes me regret ever stepping into the class.
DO NOT TAKE HIM. He might be the worst professor in all of poli sci, or maybe even Concordia. Gives an hour and a half for a closed book in-class midterm designed to be a week long take home during COVID. SUPER strict grader, and will penalize your for the smallest, insignificant mistakes. Does not care at all about his students. DO NOT TAKE HIM.
he's okay for 400 level, but avoid his 300 level courses.
There is a difference between challenging students vs. looking for them to fail. He does not want his students to think outside of the box but rather find a way to read his mind. I would not recommend this professor to anyone who actually wants to learn; I took this course expecting it to be interesting but instead was left with a headache.
Avoid this prof at all costs. He wants you to fail the class. He is the worst teacher I have had since I started my university schooling 3 years ago.
Professor Lipson runs a challenging course, but engaging lectures and clear grading can pay off if you put in the work. Utilizing resources like unstuck ai alongside the textbook helped me stay on top of the material.
Please for the love of god avoid this prof at all costs. He is a tough grader, bad teacher, and extremely politically biased in his teachings.
honestly kind of rude and such a tough grader, low-key condescending too idk just overall bad vibes and did not enjoy his way of teaching either. not the worst necessarily but would avoid if could.
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Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
91%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.11 avg changeRatings by Course
INTLORGS
5.0
(1)INTORG
5.0
(1)POLI
4.0
(5)INTREL
4.0
(1)404
3.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
404
5.0
POLIPOLI
5.0
INTLPOLI
5.0
POLI498
5.0
POLI404
5.0