Power and Politics in America. Gordon is a great lecturer, and I learned a lot in this class. It is not an easy course; it has so much reading, and you have to work a lot, but it was pretty good overall.

i had him for powerand politics. definitely a great lecturer: funny, engaging and very clear. but the grading on tests (specifically essays) was really harsh and somewhat unfair. the class is so big and dark it's hard not to fall asleep

Very funny and interesting. Great lecturer and very smart. Tough grader though - and watch out for tricky questions on the tests!!

gordon is a great prof. definitely enjoy waking up and going to this class...

He's a good and entertaining professor, but his tests and the wording of the questions are a little tricky. I'll end up getting a B in this class, but he's a good teacher to learn off of.

Gordon has an endearing nerdy charm the class goes nuts for. It was enjoyable, and I did learn a good amount. I wouldn't say he's a god of a teacher, but he's certainly above average at least. Take him, it's not hard, you'll learn a little something, and lecture isn't so bad (but my TA was a nazi.)

I believe Professor Gordon to be the best professor in the Politics Department. Good reading lists, great and informative lectures; stimulating discussions. An overall smart and funny guy.

Great Professor!..my 1st course toward my major in Politics nd definately strengthened my love for the subject. Cant say I agree or disagree with the comments about his personality 1on1 cuz i never talked to him but he is a great teacher. I'll be taking another course with him next sem.

In regards to the comments below, I have met with Gordon in person and yeah, he's not the most welcoming and helpful but I mean at least he's there for office hours. On the other hand, in lecture he's awesome! He's really into the material and has a nerdy charm that everyone seems to love. I recommend attending all lectures, his tests cover alot of

i took his Power and Politics in America class - the subject matter isn't that interesting but his lectures were very well structured and he tries to make it as interesting as possible - there is A LOT of reading for this class, but you don't necessarily have to do all of it to do well

Prof. Gordon structures lectures very well, keeps the students very engaged. Although he is completly full of himself, I found part to be extremely funny. You don't have to do all the readings, but I would suggest getting summaries of them from people. Also, there are some random questions on his tests, so watch out.

Had him for Power and Politics. Very engaging professor. Witty, nice, down to earth. Extremely willing to get to know you even though lecture is HUGE. TAs are all good and hold review sessions. Do well on tests because those and your paper are your only grades. Very good professor!

Great professor. Very entertaining and knowledgable. Work is pretty difficult but worth it. Go to lecture because A LOT of that material is on the test, plus it's fun!

What a great professor! He's smart, extremely knowledgeable, very enthusiastic, and possessed of a witty sense of humor. Very cute, liberal with the pop culture references, and breaks down abstract material into a clear lecture. Do the reading, though; there's a lot of it, but it all shows up on the exams.

Prof Gordon is a great professor, but the class is tough. There's a ton of reading to keep up with and the tests are tricky. The lectures, however, are quite entertaining and helpful for the exams. Gordon is rather funny and I admire how he handled the cheating incident, though it would have been great if the whole thing hadn't happened at all..

Great professor if you want to learn. He teaches pretty well and his lectures aren't that boring. His game theory stuff are sometimes unclear. Grades pretty fairly, but the test is hard (esp the multiple choice section). The textbook is useless. 80% of the test is from the lecture and the sup. readings. He doesn't post the powerpoints on the B.B.

Great professor, enjoyed his lectures and his tests are pretty tough.

Great professor! Always well spoken and has a great sense of humor. Definitely take his classes.

He is the best professor I've had! Amazing! His lectures are great, perfect balance b/w textbook, outside reading, info on slides and him talking, perfect! Very straightforward exams, attendance not mandatory, but if you go to lectures you'll do a lot better on the exams, and he makes it interesting so you want to go... Take his class!!!

One of the "cool" teachers who makes class enjoyable. Just study his lectures and you'll be fine.

Professor Gordon always starts class with something to get our attention...he's pretty square with glasses and sportcoats, but then he's like "Yo. Wassup". He keeps the class exciting--the powerpoints are dry but he makes them interesting, and he challenges you by including exam questions from the slides. He's cool.

Excellent, clear and often witty lectures. Grade based entirely on exams, which are not to difficult if you go to lecture and read for the course.

His class was not that bad, just pay attention to the lectures. He was nice enough to post an outline of every lecture at the end of the semester and with explanations of the game theory. He did make the lectures fun and interesting and the TAs were pretty easy on grading and gave you all the answers if you asked them for help later.

Clear and fascinating lectures, a reasonable amount of reading which is largely interesting, tests and papers that are challenging but doable

Though the exams are somewhat tough, if you do the readings and study the outline that he gives you before the exams you will do well. The class is exteremly interesting and you will really learn the ins and outs of American politics.

lectures somewhat interesting, exams are tough but grading is fair if you want to get an A, go to the lectures, takes good notes, and read all of the blackboard& Kollman reader assignments (dont bother with LGSA unless youre confused) you learn alot, very thorough class, if you pay attention &try you will easily get an A and find it very useful

Gordon is a decent professor. Lectures range between extremely interesting to mediocre. Midterm was 25% game theory despite never teaching it, I got lucky because my friends had taken game theory before and taught me. Random 2 question quizzes are given almost every other class. Midterm was easy (other than the game theory). Quirky guy.

lots of information packed into the course, but fantastic professor! does his best to teach us the material, and very willing to explain concepts and answer questions. responsive during lectures and in office hours, extremely understanding.

I'm surprised to see that Prof Gordon's getting such a hard time on here. In my experience, I thought he was great. We got through a lot of stuff and the material (for the most part) was fairly represented on the tests. However, it is true that occasionally it seems like he asks for a more in-depth answer than we had covered in lecture.

He is really smart so he goes pretty fast. Lectures are just spent scribbling notes, there isn't much time to actually think about what you're being told. However, the course material is definitely interesting, albeit hard.

Definitely one of the easier classes and professors I've taken, but probably since I took other intro-level courses first, so I recommend doing that! The grading criteria on the exams and paper were really easy, he doesn't try to trick you. I didn't even do a single reading. Just show up to lecture and recitation, you'll be fine.

The professor as a person is a nice guy + hilarious, which bleeds into class. He's passionate about the subject. Rigor is not high but for those unfamiliar w/ politics or his teaching style, he CAN be difficult to follow. Accessible and questions-responsive though. Lecture-heavy + minimal HW except reading, meaning grades rely on midterm and final.

Prof Gordon is a great guy and makes lectures very interesting. The midterm was not difficult and the research paper he has us write is graded very leniently. The only problem I had with him was how liberal he was, but if that doesnt bother you then I'd recommend his class. He is very helpful in office hrs and wants his students to succeed.

Prof. Gordon is extremely passionate about American Politics! He is funny and engaging, and even in big lectures, he attempts to leave time for class participation. He makes big concepts very easy to understand, and recitations definitely help if you ever get confused. He doesn't answer emails very often, and there is a lot of reading for exams.

Engaging lectures and funny at times. Doesn't post slides to encourage attendance, I find helpful. FRQ for exams, but lets us choose ie 7/9 questions to answer. Very easy if you are interested in politics and have general knowledge from gov/apush and follow news. Lots of reading, but not really needed, but some questions ask to draw specific ex.

He made things more complicated than they needed to be, but if you do the readings and show up to lectures you'll be fine. Shout out to TA Lanie she was amazing! Midterm and final are worth a lot but not too bad if you study and memorize the material. The research paper was annoying but they were nice with grading it.

Professor Gordon's lectures were mostly very interesting and well structured, save a few topics that were a little harder to get through. Although he doesn't post the lecture slides, he posts outlines of what was covered and any important graphs or formulas. This is a very reading heavy course, so make sure to stay on top of that. Would take again!

Amazing prof! He really loves what he's teaching and it's obvious. He's very accommodating and truly wants you to succeed. I found his enthusiasm for the topic to make the class more interesting. Like other comments said, recitation is very important and is used to expand/teach a new topic not reviewed in class.

Professor Gordon is a rly smart guy, however often he over complicates the concept discussed in class. Also DONT READ THE TEXTBOOK— it is never tested. We also never talk about the readings in class— it's all in recitation. But the exams are all lectures and readings and you really have to know EVERYTHING. It's a good class— but a LOT of material.

A lot of the people that gave him a bad rating most likely didn't put in the work. That being said, he's an amazing lecturer. Very intelligent and engaging. The content and workload can be demanding at times but if you ask questions and put aside time to engage with the material you will be fine. I wish I could take a class with him again.

prof gordon himself was pretty fair and, more or less, engaging as interesting as a lecture can be. he did tend to make concepts more complicated than necessary. reading mostly unrelated to exams but exams were fair and doable. TAs determine your grade; their metric for participation is completely arbitrary, don't miss a recitation or get a C