POL SCI 30
Politics and Strategy
Description: Lecture, three or four hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Introduction to study of strategic interaction in political applications. Use of game theory and other formal modeling strategies to understand politics. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2026 - I had high hopes going into this class because I had heard that Bawn was an excellent professor and the best to take for this class. Taking this class with her has made me believe that this is completely false. To get started, Bawn doesn't do her job. She makes students watch at least an hour of video before every lecture, and she gives quizzes. Basically, it's a mess of a flipped classroom. In the lecture, there are just "enrichment" problems, but she doesn't explain in depth or anything; she just assumes EVERYONE in the class understands, so it's hard to really understand if you don't spend the extra hours watching the videos, taking notes, and doing well on quizzes. Don't even try to ask her questions, because she will act as if you are STUPID, even though we're paying money to not even learn in lecture and just waste hours of our time teaching ourselves through videos. I tried talking to her once, and she acted as if I was asking her the most obvious question and treated me as if I was stupid. Her TAs even understand she is unbearable and rude when students ask questions, teaching us things in ways that are more complicated than they need to be. TAs in review sessions would show us ways that were 100x simpler than the way she had been forcing everyone to do. I felt like I learned more through my sweet TA than her, for sure. The way she teaches and tries to guide you into studying for tests is very unhelpful, too. I know so many students who studied so hard for both midterms (40% of your grade altogether) and still did not get the scores they wanted. If you miss one lecture, you're already behind by like 5 days. I think she has good intentions, but she has been teaching for a long time, and the way she taught back in 2005 is definitely outdated. But if you had the option to take another prereq for POL SCI or just want to take this class, I don't recommend Bawn AT ALL.
Winter 2026 - I had high hopes going into this class because I had heard that Bawn was an excellent professor and the best to take for this class. Taking this class with her has made me believe that this is completely false. To get started, Bawn doesn't do her job. She makes students watch at least an hour of video before every lecture, and she gives quizzes. Basically, it's a mess of a flipped classroom. In the lecture, there are just "enrichment" problems, but she doesn't explain in depth or anything; she just assumes EVERYONE in the class understands, so it's hard to really understand if you don't spend the extra hours watching the videos, taking notes, and doing well on quizzes. Don't even try to ask her questions, because she will act as if you are STUPID, even though we're paying money to not even learn in lecture and just waste hours of our time teaching ourselves through videos. I tried talking to her once, and she acted as if I was asking her the most obvious question and treated me as if I was stupid. Her TAs even understand she is unbearable and rude when students ask questions, teaching us things in ways that are more complicated than they need to be. TAs in review sessions would show us ways that were 100x simpler than the way she had been forcing everyone to do. I felt like I learned more through my sweet TA than her, for sure. The way she teaches and tries to guide you into studying for tests is very unhelpful, too. I know so many students who studied so hard for both midterms (40% of your grade altogether) and still did not get the scores they wanted. If you miss one lecture, you're already behind by like 5 days. I think she has good intentions, but she has been teaching for a long time, and the way she taught back in 2005 is definitely outdated. But if you had the option to take another prereq for POL SCI or just want to take this class, I don't recommend Bawn AT ALL.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Professor Chwe is literally a KING. So sweet, and always engages with the class. Very patient and willing to help when people were having difficulties with material. The course itself was overall good. Some of the material was tricky, but again, he makes himself very available for any questions over email, slack, or office hours. In response to zoom learning, he restructured the course to where we just had to complete a certain number of problems (correctly or mostly correct) for an A, instead of traditional exams. My TA was Soonhong and he was super helpful. From what I've heard, the other TA's were fantastic as well.
Fall 2020 - Professor Chwe is literally a KING. So sweet, and always engages with the class. Very patient and willing to help when people were having difficulties with material. The course itself was overall good. Some of the material was tricky, but again, he makes himself very available for any questions over email, slack, or office hours. In response to zoom learning, he restructured the course to where we just had to complete a certain number of problems (correctly or mostly correct) for an A, instead of traditional exams. My TA was Soonhong and he was super helpful. From what I've heard, the other TA's were fantastic as well.
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Winter 2021 - Barry O’Neil is many things: A myth, a meme, a nice guy, an actual wizard of game theory (not a joke look him up)... a good teacher— unfortunately— is not one of them. Barry uses creative but convoluted examples to explain a lot of otherwise easy concepts and many things get lost in translation. The assignments however, and the actual content of the class, are straightforward and easy. If your TA has any sort of brain, this will be an enjoyable class (despite Barry’s interesting teaching antics) that’s totally possible to get an A in. A lot of people took Barry the wrong way and assumed he was trying to be malign somehow when in reality he was teaching the only way he knows how. Furthermore, he was always accessible and more than happy to answer questions in his office hours. In other words, he puts in the work, is a genuinely nice guy, and a game theory legend, but sometimes can explain things the wrong way. Is that a reason not to take this class? I don’t know, you tell me. I’d be happy to take another class with Barry again.
Winter 2021 - Barry O’Neil is many things: A myth, a meme, a nice guy, an actual wizard of game theory (not a joke look him up)... a good teacher— unfortunately— is not one of them. Barry uses creative but convoluted examples to explain a lot of otherwise easy concepts and many things get lost in translation. The assignments however, and the actual content of the class, are straightforward and easy. If your TA has any sort of brain, this will be an enjoyable class (despite Barry’s interesting teaching antics) that’s totally possible to get an A in. A lot of people took Barry the wrong way and assumed he was trying to be malign somehow when in reality he was teaching the only way he knows how. Furthermore, he was always accessible and more than happy to answer questions in his office hours. In other words, he puts in the work, is a genuinely nice guy, and a game theory legend, but sometimes can explain things the wrong way. Is that a reason not to take this class? I don’t know, you tell me. I’d be happy to take another class with Barry again.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - i actually was so scared to take pol sci 30 because math, i am not much a mathematical person hence choosing political science as a major. it was funny that privett, on the first day of class, eased everyones' nerves by addressing that exact concern: poli sci majors and math? do not worry cuz it was the simplest algebra. the class was set up as a flipped-class method: watch pre-recorded lectures outside of class and only come to class to practice worksheets, ask questions, and fully understand the material. I was initially scared i would not like this, but it turned out to the be the best way for me to learn. I loved it so much, I wish I could apply this level of understanding to all my classes. Privett also explained things in class so well, and class/section were not required to attend. It was really entirely up to you, if you understand things, great! you are set for the exams. if not, then def attend class. there were two midterms and one final (literally just a version of both midterms combined into one exam) and they mirrored the worksheets we did in class. bottom line: take this class with privett!
Spring 2023 - i actually was so scared to take pol sci 30 because math, i am not much a mathematical person hence choosing political science as a major. it was funny that privett, on the first day of class, eased everyones' nerves by addressing that exact concern: poli sci majors and math? do not worry cuz it was the simplest algebra. the class was set up as a flipped-class method: watch pre-recorded lectures outside of class and only come to class to practice worksheets, ask questions, and fully understand the material. I was initially scared i would not like this, but it turned out to the be the best way for me to learn. I loved it so much, I wish I could apply this level of understanding to all my classes. Privett also explained things in class so well, and class/section were not required to attend. It was really entirely up to you, if you understand things, great! you are set for the exams. if not, then def attend class. there were two midterms and one final (literally just a version of both midterms combined into one exam) and they mirrored the worksheets we did in class. bottom line: take this class with privett!
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2020 - Professor Roberts gave engaging lectures and always asked if clarification was needed for any topic he had covered. He is funny at times and you do not feel uneasy asking him questions for anything from the class material to your grade. My TA Alex Munoz was amazing and I would recommend everyone get him if you can and consider taking Professor Roberts for this class as he makes the material fairly easy to understand. The only bummer is that I was less than 0.1% away from an A+ but only got an A. Regardless, this class was amazing and it is likely you will end with an A and if not the worst you will get is an A-. Try your best and do not slack off!
Spring 2020 - Professor Roberts gave engaging lectures and always asked if clarification was needed for any topic he had covered. He is funny at times and you do not feel uneasy asking him questions for anything from the class material to your grade. My TA Alex Munoz was amazing and I would recommend everyone get him if you can and consider taking Professor Roberts for this class as he makes the material fairly easy to understand. The only bummer is that I was less than 0.1% away from an A+ but only got an A. Regardless, this class was amazing and it is likely you will end with an A and if not the worst you will get is an A-. Try your best and do not slack off!
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