Reviews of professor Ben Brunjes

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
The professor is generally decent during lectures and he marks relatively easy on essays. Be prepared for an extra heavy workload near the end of the quarter plus 2 very difficult exams. Be sure to do you readings because sometimes he moves too fast to take notes in class. Also his slides aren't the most useful study tool imo.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I'm not a PoliSci major and I managed to do decent in his class. The reading shows up on the test by author matching and identifying concepts. Slides are very minimal. Office hours are helpful, especially before exams. He is a cool professor but you need to put in more effort than a typical introductory course.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Ben has a calm demeanor and balanced presence. I really appreciate the diverse lenses he brings to any discussion.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Not sure what class these other people took?? I loved PUBPOL201. Professor Brunjes was great and I learned a lot about policy. Wonderful class, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Brunjes is a nice guy. He's also an awful prof. I think he intends to be intellectually challenging- Instead, he is unnecessarily difficult. I've worked myself to death & learned nothing. Unless you're taking this class because it's required for the PUBPOL minor... don't subject yourself to these boring readings, unclear subjective grading, etc.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Pubpol 201 isn't really introductory course. The readings are difficult and even after much time is put in don't seem to effectively convey the key concepts. In class this concepts are discussed but then not reinforced, as well as hard to connect to new knowledge. I wouldn't recommend this class unless you're majoring in Poli Sci.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I can see why some people would enjoy the class, but objectively speaking this class was mediocre at best, his lectures don't exactly fit what is going to be on the exams but the heavy emphasis on the readings are necessary and when you let readings do all the work for you I might as well go to a library.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Best class I have taken at UW! It really made me think about policy decisions and their implementation. And I now better understand the institutions and values that are involved in public policy. Policy issues discussed included immigration, state income taxes, law enforcement and race, homelessness, and gun control.