Barry Shain - Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

Professor: Barry Shain

Department: Political Science

College: Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is really, really heavy on reading. Difficult quizzes are almost once a week. Grade is based on final, midterm, and quiz average. Professor Shain is sometimes hard to follow in lecture and usually unclear on what's important. It's hard to understand how he comes to conclusions based on readings.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

You either love or hate Shain. His class was the hardest I have ever taken at Colgate but I felt I learned more in his class than any other. His quizzes are impossible and if you don't read you will fail his class. I thought his lectures were amazing and interesting but don't expect to get a good grade without grinding for it. Would recommend.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Shian is an interesting man. He has many stories to tell that will captivate your class. My biggest issue with him is that his lectures are difficult to follow and rarely relate to his quizzes. You must have a knack for political theory if you wish to do exceptionally well in this course. If you want to put in the work you'll be rewarded.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

My biggest criteria for a good professor is good lectures and Prof Shian's are great. There's definitely a lot of reading but he really helps you make sense of it in class. He does give frequent quizzes but they mostly helped me stay on top of the reading.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Shain is unlike any professor you will ever have at Colgate. This was the best class I have had so far in college. He is not for everyone, but it is worth it to see if his class is right for you, because it could be the best one you have ever taken. His class is really not that bad as long as you do most of the readings. I highly recommend.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: No
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Only three grades in this class, midterm, final and quizzes. Extremely interesting lecturer, however, his grading criteria was very unclear. I enjoyed attending his class but was never sure what was and wasn't important course material. He gets off topic easily. He is a hard grader, gives few A's. Encourages out of the box thinking.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He simply doesn't know how to teach. He just babbles on as he likes (and he certainly seems to like having a captive audience). If you expect his class to help you build a foundation for political theory, you'll be very disappointed (instead take Kraynak or Wagner).

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely loved this class. Shain sometimes gets a bad rap by students who find him extremely difficult, but if you actually put the effort in, it isn't hard to do well. He will definitely teach you to read more critically and the lectures and readings are quite interesting. Would take again.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Shain really inspired my interest in political theory. Although he is somewhat of a conspiracy theorist and can be very controversial, if you need help or have questions he is available. Class was always entertaining. Midterm was challenging, but manageable if you put a lot of effort in.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Difficult class with lots of reading but learned a lot. Shain made hard material accessible and was extremely helpful if you showed you tried and cared about his class. open note final was still hard but i found the class very rewarding. Made me think in a different way. Recommended even if theory is not your strong suit!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Easy A if you spend time with him during office hours. If you're a guy, act impressed by his macho posturing and be buddy buddy with him. If you're a girl, laugh at his jokes and don't act creeped out by him. Easy A.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

three and a half months of narcissism and buffoonery

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Shain totally hyped himself the first couple weeks of class as he talked about what a great professor he is and how his class teaches crtitical thinking as well as political theory. Unfortunately, he never did any actual teaching. Instead, he would just shoot his mouth off about random stuff with no intellectual underpinnings. Total fraud.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He could care less about actually teaching- he would rather stand in front of the class and indulgently ramble on and make non-sensical remarks for the sake of shock value. The material is not easy (Hobbes, Rousseau, etc.) but Shain makes no effort to break it down and teach it- as someone intereseted in political theory, I felt very cheated.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Shain is the most frustrating and offensive professor i have ever had. His POSC 151 is without a doubt the worst i have ever taken at Colgate. He really should not be a professor.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POSC151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Favors girls, fails guys. Doesn't care about anything besides his views and his views only. Don't bother trying to convince him of anything because he isn't going to listen. Grading doesn't feel objective.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POLI151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No one else like him. He loves his subject.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POLY151
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He makes some outrageous comments and can come across as cold in class, but he does seem like a nice enough guy when you meet with him during office hours. Reading was unnecessary, there were 2 papers and 1 final, for which we had the questions beforehand.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POSC152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Easy B, if you attend class. Final is 50% of final grade. But it is open note and based off study guide questions given through out the semester. If you attend lecture and take decent notes it is not necessary to do the vast majority of the reading. However, grades hard on the two short papers.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: POSC352
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Worth taking. Passionate about what he's into and wants to hear what you think. Can be controversial, but mostly to get you to talk. Very approachable outside of class, and seems to care. Tough paper grader, but gives you what you deserve for the most part. Not sure how he is in low level, big classes, but awesome in upper, small courses. The man.