I actually really liked this class and the readings. But this is more like an English class than a history class when it comes to grading. Once you find the trick to what he likes, my grades suddenly skyrocketed…after 2/3 of the semester was already over and it was too late to get an A.

I don’t know if I’d say the class was useful, but it was interesting. I guess the most useful thing is that I can more confidently smash down the moon landing conspiracy theorists of my family with facts. The class never went too in-depth with the technology and science aspects of the rockets for more than a few minutes. The readings could be difficult to understand with some science jargon, but I was able to get some stuff from them and finish my essays. This is an elective, after all.

I liked Professor Smith. Talked a lot about Purdue’s contributions to space history. Always started the class with a good tune. He had a “No technology” rule, but besides that, I liked having him as a lecturer. Maybe not so much as a grader though.

Treat each essay like a high school persuasive essay. Quote random images and song lyrics from lecture and magically make it work in your writing. He loves that stuff. Do not expect to get higher than a 94 on anything. For exams, prep like you would with a persuasive paper on some different big topics from each module. Make spider webs of different connecting topics, but make sure to remember specifics like dates, names, etc. You want to aim for roughly a page of content per question, but he’s less strict on grammar and spelling on the exams. Also, for the essays, there may come a time where you have to balance an analysis on what would have happened if an event did or did not happen with a strict, formal writing style. Yes, it can be an absolute mess, as you would think this class would b...read more

Semester is divided into 3 topics. Each topic takes around 4 weeks in which every 3 weeks we have an essay due and 4th week (the end week for that topic) is an essay-based exam. Do not take if you cant write good essays.

Lectures not compulsory. Prof tries his best to make it interesting, but at the end of the day it's just a history class.

The essay submissions are graded by TA's. No matter what you will not get anything above 93 on any paper. The TAs just grade randomly with little proof to rationalize their grading. But most people will end up with A- or B+