PUBPOL-290
SELECTED TOPICS
Offered Fall 2026
Term
Instructor
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that discussion is a clear strength. Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.
DepartmentPPS
Terms offeredSpring, Fall
Typical enrollment9–46
Semesters of data4
3.1
Hrs / week
63
Responses
130
Enrollment
48%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.3
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.3
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.4
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
2.6
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysishigh
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 209 comments across 6 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that discussion is a clear strength. Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
A is doable but not automatic
The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.
Homework Load
Heavy homework load
Homework load is one of the clearest friction points. Students repeatedly describe assignments, readings, or problem sets as time-consuming.
Lecture Load
Lighter lecture burden
Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.
Strengths
• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.
Tradeoffs
• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.
Best fit for
Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.
Student Responses
Market Loans Credit
Fall 2024 · Bogan, Vicki
This class developed interdisciplinary thought, especially seeing the connection between race/social issues with economics/finance. Beyond anything else, it made me more passionate about what I want to study and potentially going to graduate school. It gave me more insight about generational wealth and how it really is tied to slavery.
Fall 2024 · Bogan, Vicki
I learned how to understand that financial inequalities have major impacts on different groups. We also learned how to understand the markets, and used excel during the course which was helpful.
Fall 2024 · Bogan, Vicki
1. Basics of some financial modeling 2. Structures of financial markets (e.g. mortgages) and mechanisms of failure 3. Inequalities in different types of markets (labor, education, etc.)
Fall 2024 · Bogan, Vicki
Analyzing the past about our institution. Learned to think more deeply about leadership and its complexity.
Spring 2024 · Nurkin, Andrew
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2025 | Huynh, Hy 3.7Rate My ProfessorsQuality3.7Difficulty1.7Would retake67%Based on 3 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.0 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 93 |
| Fall 2024 | Bogan, Vicki 2.9Rate My ProfessorsQuality2.9Difficulty3.4Would retake50%Based on 8 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 5.0 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 10 |
| Spring 2024 | Nurkin, Andrew 3.0Rate My ProfessorsQuality3.0Difficulty3.0Would retake67%Based on 3 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.5 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 18 |
| Fall 2023 | Lowell, Warren | 4.4 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 9 |
Instructor
Huynh, HyAADS
Also teaches
AADS-240S ASIAN AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY4.6GLHLTH-185FS GLOBAL HEALTH & LGBTQIA+4.4GLHLTH-740 ETHICS FOR GH RESEARCH4.6GLHLTH-740 GLOBAL HEALTH ETHICS4.3