Reviews of professor Lisa Beard

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
I personally think this professor is caring and a great lecturer. However, there was a clear anti-liberal bias in Dr. Beard's reading materials and lectures. We talked about prison abolition and it gave students the false sense that people of color were overwhelmingly leftist in ideology, when the opposite is true.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I do not like Prof. Beard. They are very unapproachable and take things personally so it makes reaching out intimidating. Further, they grade slowly and hold students to high expectations while they are late to class/late to post assignments/don't make directions clear. I was excited to take this class for the content, but ended up disappointed.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 2.0/5
This class got turned to online last minute. Beard was a bit dry and I found their class bordering on busy work sometimes. Had to take it for my major.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Class was turned from fully in person to online synchronous/asynchronous right before the first day of class.

The assignments were pretty boring. Participation was a large part of your grade even though we only met once a week.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Dr. Beard is one of the best professors Ive had in the Political Science department, so far. They engage with, and show they are actively learning from, Students. Tips: they dont give individualized feedback on most assignments, and the grading system for reading journals can be arbitrary. Overall, though, I cant recommend them more.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Dr. Beard is a true gem in the political science department! They work to craft a classroom rooted in collective learning that is conducive to productive and thought-provoking conversations. Be ready to think about questions you have never considered and to begin to understand politics through a refreshing heterodox lens.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Professor Beard is not helpful. They do not post the powerpoint slides and expect you to write everything on the slides and everything they say while they are saying it. No one can move that fast. I have pretty bad ADHD and not having the slides on canvas made this class and the quizzes so hard for no reason. Truly not a helpful professor at all.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Dr Beard is my favorite professor in the Political Science department by far! They are incredibly approachable and always teach thoughtfully, carefully, and are truly passionate about American Politics and social justice issues such as LBGTQ+, Black, and Native politics. All readings are provided online so no need to purchase a textbook as well.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Prof Beard is forsure a newer teacher at Western and is still trying to get situated. At first I was hesitant about the course but its really chill if you are interested in the topics. If you do all the readings and are actively engaging the topics discussed in class you will do great.