James Martel

Professor Martel is awesome, theres nothing else to it. He's extremely friendly, knowledge about, AND BEST OF ALL - HE KEEPS HIS FREAKIN' LIBERAL OPINIONS TO HIMSELF!

Grade is based mainly papers. If you go to class occasionally there's no reason not to score an A with him. If you're an idoit, well you may do bad.

The best thing about this class is that you get to read primary source material. It's so much more interesting to get the words straight out of Madison's mouth than regurgitated by some revisionist historian. Martel makes a mostly successful attempt at objectivism, too. Though his political bent isn't hard to guess for the more or less astute student, he never comes straight out and tells the students what is right and/or wrong. It is quite a releif to be able to make up my own mind about our founders and our system of government. Martel does a good job of presenting both sides of arguments and is very tolerant of dissenting opinions within his classroom. Classwork is light (2-3 3-5pg essays and a short-answer/essay exam), but Martel makes the subject so interesting that you'll probably want to do more than he assigns, and there is quite a bit of reading to do, including several weeks worth of Montesqueiu, which, while fascinating, is a bit difficult. Overall, highly recommend this class and this teacher. He is young and fresh and hasn't yet become bored with his work--just the sort of teacher you want to get if you actually want to learn and have an interest in the subject. On the other hand, there is no textbook, so if you miss lectures or don't bother to do the assigned reading, there are no big blue headings or chapter review questions to help you skate by. Highly recommended for motivated students who want to learn and get the most out of this experience, for those looking for an easier grade, take someone else--you'll have to work for your grade in this class.