Samuel Laselva - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Samuel Laselva

Department: Political Science

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POLI440
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

UBC is extremely privileged to have Professor Samuel LaSelva. Oxford graduate, LaSelva is the most authentic Professor I have ever had. He is brilliant, funny, and a great critical thinker. The courses he teaches are challenging and you should expect to work hard on the readings/papers. He provides useful comments on essays. THIS GUY IS LEGIT!!!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POLI347A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor La Selva was very engaged with the material, but was absolutely difficult to listen to in class. He seemed to go on tangents a lot and the lay out for his notes were very disorganized and unclear. Also unhelpful when going to his office hours for essay help, and wasn't too easy of a marker.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: 347AND440
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Pretty tangential lectures in 347 but incredibly intelligent and ready to have a reasonable back-and-forth exchange with students in class and out. Probably not a walk in the park if you have no background in political philosophy. However if you put the time in he will help you out and you will get the A.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: POLI440
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He's the type of professor you want for a seminar course, not one of those regular lecture ones. He knows a lot, and if you're interested in hearing about everything to do with the subject, LaSelva's the one. Marks very easily and really cares for his students and the subject matter. He may go off tangent and may seem dry but worth listening to.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POL347
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very difficult class if you do not have a lot of pre-existing knowledge on the subject matter. Class isn't beginner-friendly. He is very knowledgeable and that's helpful but his evaluation criteria fluctuated like crazy. I didn't like his essay topic choices and he shut me down several times in class when I counterargued. Was not the best but OK...

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POLI309
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Knowledgable prof. Content of class is very interesting. Presentations are preferred...

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: POLI402
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He seems to get a bad rap but I really liked this class...he talks too much and is a bit odd at times, but stimulates a great discussion and has put a lot of thought into the reading list. Seems like he'll be a hard marker, then ends up marking everyone over 80%. Starts marking lower on first paper. Generous late policy (4% per week)

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POLI347
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Not terrible but far from great. Unsympathetic, repetitive and very standoffish when answering questions. Hard marker. For some reason he doesn?t want you to pick a side in your papers and seems to prefer it when you sit on the fence with a weak thesis. Interesting class but that was more the reading's and paper topic's doing than the professor's.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POLI347
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

one of the greatest professors UBC has to offer. He is very intelligent and has great resources. Take the time and talk to him after class or email him. Classes are very interesting if you are into political philosophy. However, he brings in every academic field which a lot of other profs tend to ignore.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POLI347
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

An unsympathetic man with a poor lecture style. Avoid his classes.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: POLI347
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

BRILLIANT guy. Offers excellent feedback on all assignments. Reasonable marker, interested in the subject. Did tend to ramble a bit, but it was always related to the broader topic. Did his PhD in philosophy, so his class is a great mix of political theory and philosophy, and really, the two subjects need to co-exist. Would recommend this class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Laselva is obviously a knowledgeable person but he is a terrible lecturer. He rambles on forever about unimportant things and then runs out of time. He simplifies everything way too much, when it would be better if he tried to be more challenging.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

HE has ruined political theory for me. Worst class i have ever taken. His lectures were very trivial, spent most of the time talking about the lives of the ppl, rather than thier theories. Also, he emailed all the lectures to us, so no one ever came to class. It was painful to say the least. AVOID at all costs.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Lectures are boring and the final was really abstract (he is an Oxford Grad). The multiple choice was basically impossible to study for, even if you know everything, you will still be screwed. The TA's in this course are awesome. Other than that, just watch out for the final and make up your marks in the tutorial cause the final is ridiculous.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

horrible.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

absolutely atrocious. the lectures are fragmented and scattered, and you're left wondering what it was you were supposed to take away from the whole experience. how can you possibly study? the final is an *urban legend* - we've heard it's easy, and that it's "unpassable" .. no one seems to know. this is fascinating material .. *what happened*??

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

AVOID. A subject I was looking forward to became my least favourite class. Maundering, unclear, and boring lectures, poorly organized notes/ class format... I was very disappointed. Although he seemed like a nice enough person, he jumped on people who asked questions, very hostile. I wasn't a fan of the essay topics, either. Again, AVOID.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

At first he seemed okay. The last few classes I had with him made an impression however, especially how he responded to questions in class. He doesn't appear like he really wants to help students.. which is his job!! So be careful when talking/asking questions, you might feel talked down to (happened to me on several occasions).

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Nice guy by all means, intelligent and insightful. BORING LECTURES! Simple questions lead to one hour rambles. Seriously, how long does it take to tell us where some thinker studied school. Apparently that takes an hour, no need to focus on the theory or anything else of importance, it's not like we need to pass the class or anything...

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: POLI240
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Definitely a very boring professor. His policy makes it hard for students to get a high mark in his class as hard as you try. Before I was one of those who say that hes only boring because the material is boring. After taking Poli 340, with similar material and with an awesome prof, I can firmly conclude that LaSelva sucks.