<p>alright, so i was looking into taking Principles of Econ this semester, but i noticed that one of the classes had two professors scheduled to teach -- B. O'Flaherty and J. Stiglitz.</p>
<p>I've heard Stiglitz is a really good prof. to have [and the nobel prize doesn't hurt], but when I searched for O'Flaherty on CULPA almost all of the reviews were negative.</p>
<p>so i was wondering how exactly, this dual teaching works -- if anyone has been in this situation and could help, i'd greatly appreciate it :)</p>
<p>For an introductory course, the accomplishments of the professor matter so little, and his presentation of the material takes enormous precedence in judgments of who you should have. If you can, take Principles of Econ with Gulati. He's widely acclaimed among the freshman student population as an eloquent lecturer and is, by overwhelming general consensus, the ****. However, for upper division/graduate school classes, clearly a prof who knows the ins and outs of the academic complexities of the subject (proof: a Nobel Prize, perhaps) would be a more desirable choice.</p>
<p>Except that many times a superior academic talent will teach intro courses so attract students to the dept/major and up the opinion of students at the college. Many parents like to hear about a famous prof their baby had in their first semester!! Great marketing. Intro lectures are done and gone while graduate students require more time and commitment. Many schools have senior and famous profs teach intro courses and seminars.</p>
<p>Right, but I never said that it was a bad marketing ploy (in fact, it's one of the most successful marketing ploys the university can pull). Rather, my point is that it's really not necessary, and at the introductory stage I'd rather have an engaging/eager graduate student or non-doctorate instruct my class than a callous but tenured Fields medalist. This, however, is only my opinion for classes at the very basic level, like Principles of Economics. Once you get enough knowledge of the basics to formulate your own ideas in the discipline, talking it over with tenured and experienced professors will be of much greater benefit.</p>