Review:
Most people would give Taliaferro either an F or an A, but I'd say he's somewhere in the middle. He's a great lecturer and one of the most knowledgeable professors I've had. However he's very arrogant as everyone knows. He particularly discourages using him as a resource--he puts various notices in the syllabus about strict guidelines for e-mailing him, and asks that no rough drafts be turned in later that 2 weeks before the deadline (which was actually before we had even gotten feedback on our outlines). He even told someone to withdraw rather than helping them. It seems that he doesn't even want to be a professor considering his lack of concern for the students.

Workload:
Tons of reading, sometimes 50 pages or more for each lecture, but most of it can be skimmed (don't skim the theory though!). A one-page abstract and then outline that would seem to be straight forward, however you'd better follow his guidelines 100% if you want a good grade on them. Grading on the final paper and exam were more lenient, but still tough. From the guidelines, it seems he considers style to be more important than content.

review a class you took with Jeffrey Taliaferro - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
Everything that everyone else says is true. He is brilliant and conceited. If you catch him in the right mood he can be very helpful, but in the wrong mood will make you feel worthless. In terms of his class, his brilliance really shines through and makes it a valuable educational experience. Don't expect to get higher than a B+ in the class, though.

Workload:
Not an overwhelming amount of work. However, for how much effort I put into my term paper, I did not receive as much feed back as I would have liked.

review a class you took with Jeffrey Taliaferro - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
While he might know his material very well, in my opinion, he is a horrible professor outside the classrooms. He is not willing to help his students, is condescending, and simply rude. In addition, he does not communicate well with his TAs as their comments (mainly on the term paper) are contradictory.

Workload:
Quite a bit of reading.

review a class you took with Jeffrey Taliaferro - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
Prof. Taliaferro is a professor that knows what he's talking about. True that he gets his dates off sometimes but when you have that depth and range of information, those kinds of things can be overlooked. True that his demeanor is arrogant at times but with his credentials, it's to be expected some. Also, I think that students that find him irritating and arrogant are either ones expecting a lax professor and class that they can breeze through, or they are arrogant themselves and won't acknowledge that a professor does know more than the student who has done only a few readings (if at all) verses years of research. You will either love or hate Taliaferro but I, for one, like this guy's style of being organized and structured so that students know what to expect.

Workload:
The reading is heavy but if you really love international relations and especially the theoretical aspect of IR, then you will find most of the readings interesting. Although some are indeed dry, just suffer through it in about 30 minutes and you're good. Stop being lazy.

review a class you took with Jeffrey Taliaferro - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
What you?ve heard about prof Taliaferro is true. He is extremely bright, anal and well prepared for class. He does make some effort to get to know people (esp names), but the cons heavily outweigh the pros. He is extremely arrogant, pompous and condescending, especially towards the casual student. He is not very accepting of alternative interpretations to his "realist" point of view, and often belittles students in class who try to argue an opposite view point. Beware before enrolling in a Taliaferro class, if you are not an extremely serious student who is willing to read every page assigned, this class is NOT for you. Attendance is also required

Workload:
Reading was more than an average class, they were often confusing, extremely dense and boring. Unfortunately the student is forced to spend most of his/her time searching for the material which he thinks Prof Taliaferro wants to hear being regurgitated. The final paper is extremely confusing, it is not your standard history paper, and half the time is spent figuring out what needs to go where.

Final was bullshit, he threw a curveball on the essay (70%). The topic was something we spent 1/2 of the last class discussing, and not very in-depth either.

review a class you took with Jeffrey Taliaferro - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
With Taliaferro you either love him or hate him. I personally think that though usually prepared and knowledgeable, Taliaferro's lectures are dry and grating on the nerves at times. He can be pompous and arrogant. He can be helpful, but only after listening to him talk forever about who he knows and how great his book is.

Workload:
There is a fair amount of reading, though most is very redundant and can be skimmed. A fair amount of help is given for the paper, but his grading can be inconsistent and often times is more focused on style, than substance.

review a class you took with Jeffrey Taliaferro - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
Underrated by most students for a demeanor most often described as "pompous and assheaded". However, Professor Taliaferro prepares assiduously for class meetings, and almost always has a solid, theory-grounded argument to make within an hour or so. He tends to get annoyed with students who think they know and understand the material before reading it thoroughly, but if a bit of humility is brought along, he can teach a ton. Also makes it his business to know as many names in the class as humanly possible, which is nice.

Workload:
A solid amount of reading, usually about 50 pages per week. Usually a midterm-paper with several stages graded (abstract, outline, final draft) and a final exam that tends to be relatively easy if most of the reading has been done.

review a class you took with Jeffrey Taliaferro - help your classmates make informed decisions!