POL SCI 139
Special Studies in International Relations
Description: Lecture, three or four hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Requisites: two courses in Field II, or course 20 and one course in Field II. Designed for juniors/seniors. Intensive examination of one or more special problems appropriate to international relations. Sections offered on regular basis, with topics announced in preceding term. May be repeated for credit with topic change. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2016 - Professor Gurantz is a great professor. He is very straight-forward in his lecture style. No BS. I've taken two classes with him and learned much more than professors who try to complicate their class with absurd theories and terminology they came up with in their research that no one actually uses. Highly recommend Ron!
Spring 2016 - Professor Gurantz is a great professor. He is very straight-forward in his lecture style. No BS. I've taken two classes with him and learned much more than professors who try to complicate their class with absurd theories and terminology they came up with in their research that no one actually uses. Highly recommend Ron!
Most Helpful Review
If you're a political science major, especially if your concentration is international relations, or if you're just taking a political science course, take Professor Robert Hager! He's an expert on the Soviet Union/Russia. Last quarter, I took POL SCI 128B: International Relations of Post-Communist Russia. It was not easy at all, but it was worth the effort. The midterm paper was difficult for me, but I saved myself during the final exam. Prof. Hager let his students know what was going to be on the exam, and provided us with a study guide. I studied really hard for the final, and the hard work paid off. I'm currently taking POL SCI 139: U.S. National Security Policy since 1945. This course is a little bit harder since there's a 15-20 page research paper due by the 5th week of the quarter. Prof. Hager was available and more than happy to help me and my fellow classmates find sources for our papers. If you're a diligent student, and come to lecture religiously, and actually pay attention, you will enjoy this course. There's so much to learn from Prof. Hager, and you might emerge from his class as a Cold War or a Soviet Union expert. If you want an easy A, this class is not for you.
If you're a political science major, especially if your concentration is international relations, or if you're just taking a political science course, take Professor Robert Hager! He's an expert on the Soviet Union/Russia. Last quarter, I took POL SCI 128B: International Relations of Post-Communist Russia. It was not easy at all, but it was worth the effort. The midterm paper was difficult for me, but I saved myself during the final exam. Prof. Hager let his students know what was going to be on the exam, and provided us with a study guide. I studied really hard for the final, and the hard work paid off. I'm currently taking POL SCI 139: U.S. National Security Policy since 1945. This course is a little bit harder since there's a 15-20 page research paper due by the 5th week of the quarter. Prof. Hager was available and more than happy to help me and my fellow classmates find sources for our papers. If you're a diligent student, and come to lecture religiously, and actually pay attention, you will enjoy this course. There's so much to learn from Prof. Hager, and you might emerge from his class as a Cold War or a Soviet Union expert. If you want an easy A, this class is not for you.
Most Helpful Review
I am taking Prof Johns' Intl Organizations class this quarter and I love it. I may be biased because IOs are my specific area of interest, but Professor Johns is a great professor, especially for being brand new!! She's incredibly organized, clear and thorough. The class has a discussion where weekly quizzes on the reading are given. The two lowest quiz grades are dropped. These make up a small portion of the grade and so does participation. The rest is comprised of a mid-term and final, which are actual tests of short-answer questions, not essays. I think the final may have an essay component, but the mid-term did not. The testing is also straightforward. Basically, I feel like the grading components and the questions on them are really crafted to ensure that you're learning, comprehending and actually retaining the material. I feel like this rarely happens at UCLA, it's so easy to just get the grade and then immediately forget everything you've learned. That's not the case in this course with Johns, she gets it. She seems to really understand how to select readings, structure the class and the flow of the subject matter, as well as grade students in a manner that effectively teaches. I really appreciate how well-organized and well-thought out the course is and I highly recommend Professor Johns. She's incredibly fair and approachable.
I am taking Prof Johns' Intl Organizations class this quarter and I love it. I may be biased because IOs are my specific area of interest, but Professor Johns is a great professor, especially for being brand new!! She's incredibly organized, clear and thorough. The class has a discussion where weekly quizzes on the reading are given. The two lowest quiz grades are dropped. These make up a small portion of the grade and so does participation. The rest is comprised of a mid-term and final, which are actual tests of short-answer questions, not essays. I think the final may have an essay component, but the mid-term did not. The testing is also straightforward. Basically, I feel like the grading components and the questions on them are really crafted to ensure that you're learning, comprehending and actually retaining the material. I feel like this rarely happens at UCLA, it's so easy to just get the grade and then immediately forget everything you've learned. That's not the case in this course with Johns, she gets it. She seems to really understand how to select readings, structure the class and the flow of the subject matter, as well as grade students in a manner that effectively teaches. I really appreciate how well-organized and well-thought out the course is and I highly recommend Professor Johns. She's incredibly fair and approachable.
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