First time writing a review for a course, but I felt compelled to do so. This was by far one of the worst courses I have taken at UCLA . There aren't many graded materials , the grade is broken down by: forum posts (which he decided to add during Thursday of week 1), a midterm exam, final research paper proposal, and the final paper. Lectures were very dry with very little direction and it was evident by low attendance and engagement. Although there were very few assignments in the course, the professor only graded the forum posts (based on completion) and the research proposals (which were 1-2 pages). The two biggest assignments, the midterm and final paper, were instead graded by a grader, and many of my peers expressed concerns over the grader's harsh grading during the midterm, to the point where Bang had to hold extra office hours for people to discuss a potential regrade for the midterms. Now after all this, you would expect for the grader to be a little more lenient on the final paper, but as many of my peers have expressed once again, there were again many controversies with the grades. This wouldn't be an issue if there was a clear breakdown of the grades and a rubric to show where we may have lost points, but that was never given to us. For our grade feedback, we are just given a set of numbers that divides the assignments in sections which does nothing to help us improve our writing for the future. It's clear that the professor has some knowledge about political statistics, but I am not sure if he has the ability to critically break it down for students and run a class. Bang is also very unresponsive to emails and is very disorganized overall. Honestly take my review as you will, but I will certainly not be taking another course taught by Bang.

Very unapproachable professor. Always claims is "too busy" for being a professor. Would not recommend at all.

This prof has a bad rep on Bruinwalk, and I don't think it's reflective of the professor he is now. This professor is very chill and helpful, and his lectures are clear, organized, and engaging. His class consists of discussion posts=15%, midterm=30%, research proposal=15%, and final research paper=40%. I have him for two classes now and this seems to be his outline for the class during virtual settings. He is also very responsive to feedback. If something isn't working out for the class as a whole, he will be accommodating. He also does a great job of introducing the main theories within the specific poli sci topic that his course covers. His readings can be at times dense and theoretical, but he tends to cover the main ideas of the readings during lectures. If you pay attention to the course material, you will learn a lot. Plus the grading is fair. Meaning, if you put in some effort, you can def pass this class with an A. I recommend this class.