HIST 143A
Constitutional History of the U.S.: Origins and Development of Constitutionalism in the U.S.
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Designed for juniors/seniors. Particular emphasis on framing of Federal Constitution in 1787 and its subsequent interpretation. Judicial review, significance of Marshall Court, and effects of slavery and Civil War on Constitution. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
1 of 1
Most Helpful Review
40% mid-term, 60% final. The class can tend to get boooooring, although Professor Meranze makes little jokes here and there that alert me to attention. I don't think his exams are too bad, but it's really unfortunate he doesn't give us a study guide or review session. It's extremely time consuming to study EVERYTHING we went over in class, especially since a lot of the stuff we copied down for notes (like every monarch in England for 200 years) didn't relate to anything on the exam. Unless you REALLY want to know constitutional history, there are surely better history classes to take.
40% mid-term, 60% final. The class can tend to get boooooring, although Professor Meranze makes little jokes here and there that alert me to attention. I don't think his exams are too bad, but it's really unfortunate he doesn't give us a study guide or review session. It's extremely time consuming to study EVERYTHING we went over in class, especially since a lot of the stuff we copied down for notes (like every monarch in England for 200 years) didn't relate to anything on the exam. Unless you REALLY want to know constitutional history, there are surely better history classes to take.
Most Helpful Review
Overall suggestion: don't, unless you must. Content: in-class midterm and in-class final, both with a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and essay prompts. Moderate difficulty. Lecture: good lord I hated this class. Going into it I enjoyed US history, especially colonial-era. Very unique, very intriguing, very eventful. The course, however, managed to dampen that love for a whole quarter, leaving me a sad, broken man. Lectures are ridiculously fast-paced...I took around 10 pages of notes a lecture, recorded lectures on top of that to fill in what I missed (because typing at 90+ wpm is NOT fast enough to cover more than 2/3 of the GENERAL stuff he brings up), and STILL had tons of gaps in what was covered. Plus, readings involve primary documents, which are pretty rough by themselves, plus a few history texts on top of that, so come crunch time to go over the study guide, you're basically trying to pour a gallon of milk into a shot glass. Too much information to be invested in any one thing, so it just becomes a matter of retaining what you think the prof thinks is important, and regurgitating what he says. I ended up with a B- in that class, and that's after contesting a grade I got from one of the readers over some comments that, in hindsight, surprisingly makes me more irritated now then I was back then. There was a dispute over me wording a short answer question "properly"...I was given credence that what I said was indeed true and correct, but because I didn't *word* it in the terms that he and the readers agreed upon, he didn't change the grade. It was a situation where it would have boosted a grade from a B- to a B, and in the big picture, am I going to survive? Yes. Still, it's really annoying to have, and this is still the lowest grade I've gotten at UCLA. Second instance, however, of a prof telling me "yes, you are correct, buuuuut I'm still going to side with the readers' grade"
Overall suggestion: don't, unless you must. Content: in-class midterm and in-class final, both with a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and essay prompts. Moderate difficulty. Lecture: good lord I hated this class. Going into it I enjoyed US history, especially colonial-era. Very unique, very intriguing, very eventful. The course, however, managed to dampen that love for a whole quarter, leaving me a sad, broken man. Lectures are ridiculously fast-paced...I took around 10 pages of notes a lecture, recorded lectures on top of that to fill in what I missed (because typing at 90+ wpm is NOT fast enough to cover more than 2/3 of the GENERAL stuff he brings up), and STILL had tons of gaps in what was covered. Plus, readings involve primary documents, which are pretty rough by themselves, plus a few history texts on top of that, so come crunch time to go over the study guide, you're basically trying to pour a gallon of milk into a shot glass. Too much information to be invested in any one thing, so it just becomes a matter of retaining what you think the prof thinks is important, and regurgitating what he says. I ended up with a B- in that class, and that's after contesting a grade I got from one of the readers over some comments that, in hindsight, surprisingly makes me more irritated now then I was back then. There was a dispute over me wording a short answer question "properly"...I was given credence that what I said was indeed true and correct, but because I didn't *word* it in the terms that he and the readers agreed upon, he didn't change the grade. It was a situation where it would have boosted a grade from a B- to a B, and in the big picture, am I going to survive? Yes. Still, it's really annoying to have, and this is still the lowest grade I've gotten at UCLA. Second instance, however, of a prof telling me "yes, you are correct, buuuuut I'm still going to side with the readers' grade"
AD
Most Helpful Review
Professor Tooney tends to lecture in a monotone manner which leads to many falling asleep or leaving class early. He puts the slides on the class website which basically means coming to class to hear him read them to you is not necessary. The class was comprised of a midterm (30%) and final (70%). Although I do have to credit the professor for being very flexible with makeups or rescheduling exams that have a time conflict. If you don't mind being bored, take this class and you should do fine with reading the slides and minimal reading.
Professor Tooney tends to lecture in a monotone manner which leads to many falling asleep or leaving class early. He puts the slides on the class website which basically means coming to class to hear him read them to you is not necessary. The class was comprised of a midterm (30%) and final (70%). Although I do have to credit the professor for being very flexible with makeups or rescheduling exams that have a time conflict. If you don't mind being bored, take this class and you should do fine with reading the slides and minimal reading.
1 of 1
