Professor
Giovanni Peri
1 of 1
Most Helpful Review
Peri was visiting from UC Davis, and for that reason I think he may have expected a lot from UCLA students- and was disappointed. The class was much more math-heavy than the course description would make it seem, and a lot of the students in the course were not prepared for this. The truth of the matter though is that the math was VERY simple considering there was no calculus involved. If you are comfortable with algebra involving logarithms and graphing functions, then the math should not concern you too much. However, as a warning, it seems most IDS students seemed to suffer on the midterm, most likely because of their lack of exposure to any math in their previous classes. If you've taken Math 3 or 31A/B, then you should be OK. As far as the actual course material, it was extremely interesting. There were discussions of the growth of the Asian Tiger countries, how political corruption stemming from colonial times is the most likely force holding down African nations, and the relationship between democracy and economic success. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in geography, history, or economics, but I highly encourage people who had trouble passing calculus or never taken it to stay away.
Peri was visiting from UC Davis, and for that reason I think he may have expected a lot from UCLA students- and was disappointed. The class was much more math-heavy than the course description would make it seem, and a lot of the students in the course were not prepared for this. The truth of the matter though is that the math was VERY simple considering there was no calculus involved. If you are comfortable with algebra involving logarithms and graphing functions, then the math should not concern you too much. However, as a warning, it seems most IDS students seemed to suffer on the midterm, most likely because of their lack of exposure to any math in their previous classes. If you've taken Math 3 or 31A/B, then you should be OK. As far as the actual course material, it was extremely interesting. There were discussions of the growth of the Asian Tiger countries, how political corruption stemming from colonial times is the most likely force holding down African nations, and the relationship between democracy and economic success. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in geography, history, or economics, but I highly encourage people who had trouble passing calculus or never taken it to stay away.
AD
1 of 1
