[POLS W3522] Life Cycle of Communist Regimes

This was a good class in terms of the material covered. Lectures were interesting and the professor would use every moment of class. He is soft spoken, so sit near the front of the room. Attending lectures will benefit you more than reading, though doing both helps. There was section, but if you said you had a class conflict, you did not need to attend. He is a harder than average grader.

I know many will probably whine and complain about Bernstein, but I found him to be a fine professor. He speaks quietly and without much inflection, which would be, for me, the only legitimate gripe of students. If you pay attention (I know, it's a tough task for us Columbia students) the class is interesting and not terribly difficult. I did not do much of the reading for the first half and got an A on the midterm, because I went to class and paid attention. Bernstein is cute and has a great wit that you just have to listen for. The class is straightforward. If you have to take a PoliSci course and don't have attention issues, I'd recommend this class.

My biggest regret this semester is not dropping this class while I had the chance. The lectures are incomprehensible and impossible to hear if you don't sit in the first few rows. There is a lot of reading, on which the tests are mostly based. The most enthusiastic students in the class are the large number of continuuing-education students; many undergrads don't even bother coming to class.

Think very, very hard before you take this class. This man cannot stay on a lecture topic to save his life. Once, after only covering half the material he had planned to in the lecture, he commented, "I guess circumstances prevented us from getting to the other material...but I'm not really sure what those circumstances were." He frequently refers to all subjects in his lectures as "they" or "you" so when he took a comparative approach, it wasn't always clear which country he was talking about. The midterm was entirely based on outside readings; I don't think I would have been able to write an adequate response to the questions about Leninism if I hadn't been enrolled in political theory at the same time. TAs were excellent but just as unenthusiastic about the class as all the students; furthermore, they never had any idea where we were supposed to be in the syllabus since it had no dates on it. Readings were interesting, but not worth the horror of sitting through these lecturers.

This was a fanastic class. A painless history lesson. A rigorous political-science analysis. Statistics and anecdotes. Humor. A professor who dresses well and acts friendly, always taking times to answer questions without veering off-topic.
He mentions books and authors, and you'll be jotting down the names so you can look them up later. Go with that instinct! (I did, and I'm now reading Solzhenitsyn's _The First Circle_.)

This is one of the few professors I will remember fondly, 40 years on. He lectured for 75 minutes straight, seemingly without notes, interjecting jokes and factoids that enhanced our understanding of the material instead of distracting from the topic at hand. Communist Regimes is one of those classes where you sit in the lecture hall and think, "FINALLY I'm getting my money's worth at this school." Professor Bernstein is so erudite and articulate... you'll want to have a cup of coffee with the guy and spend some more time talking about Stalin and Mao. He brings so much passion and insight to his subject; it's as if he lived through communist repression himself. What a relief to have a professor who doesn't whitewash Marxism and its real-world effects!

I tried hard to give Bernstein a chance, and though I do think he deserves his reputation as a tome of soviet and chinese history and politics, he is hands down the most boring professor I've ever had. This class was at least half graduate students and as an undergrad there were certainly times I felt a little out of the loop-Bernstein is very sweet and understanding and allowed for this, and if you happen to be awake in the latter half of class, as noted he does have a dry sense of humor but by then most of the class has departed for the sweet hereafter and it's just the ancient auditors that get the joke. If you are genuinely interested in the workings of communist regimes this is a worthwhile class but you will have to do a good deal of self-motivation: lectures tend to be rather dawdling and tangential but the midterm and the take-
home final were both based heavily on the readings, so you're sort of left to draw your own conclusions. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Professor Bernstein has first-hand experience and a great deal of knowledge about Communist Regimes, particularly in the Soviet Union and China. He has a great sense of humor, and the midterm and final are fairly easy. The book review assignment is extremely confusing - it may seem easy but the criteria are not specific at all. Most of the readings were very interesting.

The man has a dry sense of humour that is subtle and hilarious. Don't be put off by his quiet mild-mannered demeanour at the onset. He is an old school lecturer and academic, meticulous and really well respected in his field. But who cares about that. The best thing about Bernstein is that you really learn, you really enjoy the learning, AND he is a model professor, helpful, challenging, supportive, etc., Check out the pictures in his office if you drop by for office hours and, if you ask, maybe he'll tell you some cool stories about his China travels.
He also teaches and has an interest in some of the coolest, most off the wall subjects. Remember, this man also teaches Major Dictators of the 20th Century.
He is very approachable and in general just very professional and adept at dealing with and encouraging students. There is no reason why anybody should ever leave Columbia without taking a class with him.

Prof. Bernstein is laid back and realistic about his expectations in terms of workload and to some extent quality. He's also very flexible --- term papers can be on almost any subject loosely related to the course. He knows a lot about what he teaches, but isn't afraid to admit when he doesn't , encouraging you to research topics yourself. I highly recommend taking a course with him if you are interested in China, Communism, or Dictators.

So Professor Bernstein isn't the most consistently captivating lecturer, and his tone is a little on the droning side, but in general, I found his class to be interesting, and for him to be a fair, if not fairly lenient, grader. There is a bit of reading, but nothing extravagantly horrible. also, he really does know his stuff. and he does understand his own tendencies to be a little on the boring side, but he manages to slide in a few jokes here and there. As for his being unaccomadating to students...I don't really think that's fair. The class material was very interesting, and overall, an enjoyable experience. If you have an interest in the subject, it's a great class to take. and the final was take home, which was lovely.

I loved this class. This has been my favorite class yet. Professor Bernstein is actually quite funny and his lectures were very informative. If you're interested in this subject, take this class!!!! He talks about the origin of Communism, its different stages and forms. The class mainly focuses on the USSR and China and compares the two cases. Other cases are, of course, also mentioned, not as detailed though. I learned so much! Thank you!