Comments:2343 - If you actually want to walk away from this class having deepened your understanding of the texts, please take someone else's class. Prof. Burns is very particular about how you write the essays and is extremely stingy when grading. His written feedback isn't very helpful; in my experience he's written one word critiques that don't make much sense. You'll have to go into office hours to fully understand his reasoning for docking points. Participation is worth a lot (more than the first exam), and unless you ask him directly, you won't know your final grade until you open your transcript. The books we read are very dense, but usually if I am expected to do a significant amount of reading before a lecture, I could only hope that Prof. Burns could make sense of the books. However, his suggested learning strategy of copiously taking notes but having so much content in his lecture and refusing to repeat anything caused me to prioritize having as many notes possible rather than actually understanding what he says. When I'd open up my notes to review after class, I could barely make sense of what I wrote, even if it was directly quoted from his lecture. I was excited to take this class, since it was my first philosophy course I've ever taken. To have a class be so overwhelming in work yet underwhelming in experience is beyond me.I understand that this class (along with many other PSC courses) is a very challenging course to take. However, the teaching ability of the professor should elevate your learning experience and not hinder a student's comprehension of the content, especially if this course is notoriously difficult. If you still move forward in taking his class, go to office hours, ask questions in lecture, and follow his guidelines for writing essays very closely. Good luck.  - Grade In Class:B

Comments:2343 - Dr. Burns is definitely overqualified for this intro-level class and as a result he expects a lot from his students. The class is not impossible but it requires an established level of writing before the class that is already very high. I would recommend him for someone serious about political philosophy and wanting a challenge, but if you are just taking this class because it is required for the PSC degree, consider other profs. He grades not just on substance but also on grammar and syntax, but he will not teach you how to write. If you feel ready as a writer, take his class, but prepare pushback via bad grades if you are not a capable writer. There is a variable amount of reading per class session (anywhere from 15 to 100+ pages); it takes careful time management but at least there is no homework because all grades come from the 3 in-class essays + the 2-hr essay-based final exam. My biggest piece of advice is to go to every single class, do not leave the class even for a bathroom break if you can avoid it, ask questions for clarification (he will answer any questions!), pay close attention, and take voluminous amounts of notes. You will not have any helps like lecture slides so your notes are your only source of review for exams. TLDR: challenging class but knowledgeable prof  - Grade In Class:A

Comments:PSC 2343 - If you can, take anyone else. There's 4 essays including the final, and attendance is mandatory. He grades extremely hard and is against any use of technology. The only time you'll see good grades from him or a Canvas page is if he has a TA. He is an extremely harsh grader and grades based on how well you know his thoughts on the lecture, not the content itself. I thought I was going to have a pretty good grade from this class, but the final essay is 30% and can absolutely bomb your grade  - Grade In Class:C+

Comments:2343 - I truly had to drop this class because of how tough he is. This class is to get us ready for harder classes but he treats it like a grad level class. Also he is a grad level professor and he usually teaches one class that needs a teacher since there are too many students that need that one class. For this specific class it is really hard because these topics in this class is what he has specifically studied his whole life so he is an expert on them and if you do not understand his way of thinking then you will not get a good grade. He is very strict on grading and unless you study like 5 hours a day you will not get an A because he wants everyone to study so much. Before I was told he usually has a TA to help but that was not the case this time so it was more difficult. He also does not have a canvas and you go off of the one email he sends before the class starts with the syllabus and the schedule. He also is so against technology that when he gets into class he does not just put the computer down put the whole monitor with it, also because of him not having a canvas he does not have notes so the only way to get his notes is by making sure you listen and write down everything he says but he goes so fast so it is hard to write down everything. Also I met with him to get help and he told me the same things both times and he told me when he told me to get my grade up to always come to class like I haven't. I would like to say I actually never missed a class of his and he never takes attendance so he really does not know who you are unless you meet with him all the time. I will say he is a nice person but not very helpful and he wants to make sure that everything you are writing is his opinion not yours so that makes it more difficult. All and all I would be cautious taking his class.  - Grade In Class:DROP

Comments:3373 - Professor Burns is an okay professor, he teaches his lectures based on the readings and will explain it really well. I think he does want his students to well and see them succeed. However, this is one of the classes where the TA does all the grading and makes sure everything runs smoothly. He did not post a canvas page the TA did. One thing to keep in mind to is you get NO UNEXCUSED ABSENCES. This was a little strange because Baylor's attendance policy is 75%. Overall, the class isn't bad but it does take some work and you need to be prepared for that.   - Grade In Class:A