POL SCI 169
Special Studies in Comparative Politics
Description: Lecture, three or four hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Preparation: two courses in Field IV. Designed for juniors/seniors. Intensive examination of one or more special problems appropriate to comparative politics. 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
Winter 2020 - Wow. This dude is inspirational in that I found out he has a PHD and now I know you don't have to be smart to go to grad school. I usually am nice to people that I think at least "try" but if you're this bad/unknowledgeable at what you're doing, you definitely need to re-evaluate your life's choices. I got an A because I studied on my own but it is a super net loss because the brain cells I lost will never be retained again.
Winter 2020 - Wow. This dude is inspirational in that I found out he has a PHD and now I know you don't have to be smart to go to grad school. I usually am nice to people that I think at least "try" but if you're this bad/unknowledgeable at what you're doing, you definitely need to re-evaluate your life's choices. I got an A because I studied on my own but it is a super net loss because the brain cells I lost will never be retained again.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - Professor Rogowski is a great professor. There are no slides, and the entire lecture is him talking, but my class was small enough to where he took more of a Socratic method approach. The class was on Fascism and I definitely walked out of the class knowing a lot more about the subject. He is always available to talk to if you need help understanding the readings, and he would even go out of his way to meet with me on days that his office hours were not scheduled on. Definitely take a class with him if you want to learn, if you want an easy class where you can skip lectures and not do the readings, don't take a class with him.
Spring 2019 - Professor Rogowski is a great professor. There are no slides, and the entire lecture is him talking, but my class was small enough to where he took more of a Socratic method approach. The class was on Fascism and I definitely walked out of the class knowing a lot more about the subject. He is always available to talk to if you need help understanding the readings, and he would even go out of his way to meet with me on days that his office hours were not scheduled on. Definitely take a class with him if you want to learn, if you want an easy class where you can skip lectures and not do the readings, don't take a class with him.
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Most Helpful Review
I did study abroad with Professor Sawyer in Puerto Rico with the hopes that he could be my adviser for research. It was the best decision of my life to take that trip, because him as my adviser would have been TERRIBLE! He was more concerned being on vacation than teaching us anything- all he did was tell stories about his own life that barely had anything to do with the course material. He was unapproachable and really made me feel like I had wasted my money and time being there (IN PUERTO RICO! Seriously smh). I don't know how he is in an actual classroom at UCLA, but I won't bother trying to find out. His lack of professionalism and uninvolved attitude has put me off ever wanting to take a class with him again.
I did study abroad with Professor Sawyer in Puerto Rico with the hopes that he could be my adviser for research. It was the best decision of my life to take that trip, because him as my adviser would have been TERRIBLE! He was more concerned being on vacation than teaching us anything- all he did was tell stories about his own life that barely had anything to do with the course material. He was unapproachable and really made me feel like I had wasted my money and time being there (IN PUERTO RICO! Seriously smh). I don't know how he is in an actual classroom at UCLA, but I won't bother trying to find out. His lack of professionalism and uninvolved attitude has put me off ever wanting to take a class with him again.
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Most Helpful Review
I took Treisman for PS169: The Roots of Democracy. I thought I would end up dreading the class based on the seemingly boring nature of the material, but I ended up really enjoying it. Treisman's lectures are clear, simple, and to the point. He uses very accessible language, which I like. He never rushes through lecture and is always willing to answer students' questions. He also ends class early most of the time. The midterm and final exams are six-page take home essays. There are two prompt options for each. It's pretty straightforward, but the TAs can be hard graders. Overall, I definitely recommend taking Treisman!
I took Treisman for PS169: The Roots of Democracy. I thought I would end up dreading the class based on the seemingly boring nature of the material, but I ended up really enjoying it. Treisman's lectures are clear, simple, and to the point. He uses very accessible language, which I like. He never rushes through lecture and is always willing to answer students' questions. He also ends class early most of the time. The midterm and final exams are six-page take home essays. There are two prompt options for each. It's pretty straightforward, but the TAs can be hard graders. Overall, I definitely recommend taking Treisman!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2019 - Most of the reviews for Wainfan’s classes have an element of truth to them (she can be harsh on students, she’s newer to teaching and could improve, and the readings are a LOT to handle, especially if you fall behind) but to me it just seems like a lot of poli sci students love to just complain if they can’t skip class, not do the readings, and still get an easy A. This class was hard, but I felt like I learned so much about critically analyzing published academic research and critiquing methods and models used. The truth is you don’t really need to do ALL the readings but it’s helpful to be able to understand discussion about the readings during class so that you have something to say for midterm/essay/final. I also thought her slides and lectures were thoughtfully put together and intentionally relevant. She often would include articles from the week of class on current events. Most poli sci classes taught by professors who are smart/distinguished but could not care less about the class and just recycle old material and tests and essay prompts year after year; this class is not that at all, which I appreciated.
Winter 2019 - Most of the reviews for Wainfan’s classes have an element of truth to them (she can be harsh on students, she’s newer to teaching and could improve, and the readings are a LOT to handle, especially if you fall behind) but to me it just seems like a lot of poli sci students love to just complain if they can’t skip class, not do the readings, and still get an easy A. This class was hard, but I felt like I learned so much about critically analyzing published academic research and critiquing methods and models used. The truth is you don’t really need to do ALL the readings but it’s helpful to be able to understand discussion about the readings during class so that you have something to say for midterm/essay/final. I also thought her slides and lectures were thoughtfully put together and intentionally relevant. She often would include articles from the week of class on current events. Most poli sci classes taught by professors who are smart/distinguished but could not care less about the class and just recycle old material and tests and essay prompts year after year; this class is not that at all, which I appreciated.
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