amazing and super easy class!! the quizzes are easy and straightforward as long as you take good lecture notes. his lectures were super interesting. would 100% take another class with him

Professor Min is incredible. I looked forward to every one of his lectures and the content of the class itself is really interesting. He posts all his slides beforehand but leaves a couple small blanks in them that you fill out during lecture.

Here's how grades are weighed:
30% - weekly open note, take home quizzes that stay open from Friday to Tuesday but do have a time limit (lowest grade is dropped)
20% - section participation (my TA gave full credit for each section as long as you showed up and answered/asked at least one question)
50% - 5-6 page analysis paper (5% is guaranteed simply by submitting a proposal by the deadline, regardless of how good that proposal is)

Quizzes are very straightforward and based off the slides & lectures. Also, you are guided through the paper bit by bit with each section so it's really not that intimidating! There is also a clear rubric provided for it, so you know exactly what you need to do in order to get a good grade.

The textbook wasn't even necessary in my opinion because Professor Min covered all of the content clearly and concisely during lecture. It's great to read for some extra context though.

Overall, I would highly recommend this class. It was very manageable for me and it was my first quarter at UCLA!

There were no tests in this class, just weekly quizzes which were online and open-note (no collaboration allowed). Super easy and most of the info you could find on the slides. Lectures were pretty helpful.

The big project was this essay worth 50% of our grade on a topic we didn't learn about. That was pretty stressful but I ended up receiving a 97 on it even though I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. The prompt was "What should the United States have done differently in Afghanistan, if anything?" and relating it to class concepts, and I felt overwhelmed because I knew nothing on the topic beforehand.

Professor Min is hands down one of the most clear and engaging lecturers I have encountered at UCLA so far. The format of the class includes a final paper but NO midterm and NO final. Weekly quizzes make up the rest of your grade, but they are very doable if you just go to the lectures. They are also open note/online so you really should really be able to do well on them. I would highly recommend this class if you are interested in politics or just wanting to take a fairly simple GE. You cannot go wrong with professor Min!

One of the best professors I've had at UCLA. Class content delivery was very clear. Professor Min also made the class very interesting and interactive. The amount of reading can get a little heavy sometimes, but are overall not too difficult. As long as you do the readings and participate, you will be fine.

I absolutely loved this class. The professor is a fantastic lecturer and the units were super interesting (at least for someone who loves political science). His slides are very clear and so are his explanations. I went to class every time and took diligent notes. He posts the recording and slides! I had an online quiz every week. If you actually understand the topic, the quizzes will be fine. I usually got a 13-15/15. I never once read the textbook. We had one big paper that was worth 50% of our grade. I worked very, very hard on it and got a 90%. I think an A in this class is very feasible if you put in the work.

Strength: The course is very informative and relevant, the professor is very passionate about his studies, also funny and friendly (one of the best UCLA professors)
Weakness: The course is quite dense, and the readings can get quite heavy

Great class, very smart professor

I wish Min would teach more undergrad classes. That might be his only flaw. He is the best professor ever and keeps you engaged in lectures with only one research paper that you work on throughout the quarter in section. Grading on the research paper is dependent on your TA, but mine was chill. Min as a prof is the best and sets up the easiest grading system ever. Take him if he ever teaches any undergrad class.

POL SCI 20 with Professor Min is a great introduction to international relations. Professor Min himself is a great lecturer, providing entertaining examples, engaging slides, and an infectiously upbeat demeanor. He and his TAs are also very accommodating in office hours and willing to guide you through any difficult material or questions about the paper. Lectures are recorded, so attendance isn't required, but I would recommend going only because it's easier to digest the information in person. Speaking of lectures, everything that is covered there is what makes it onto the exams. DON'T BUY THE TEXTBOOK. Studying the slides was more than enough to prepare for tests.

This class has one midterm, a final, and an analysis paper. The midterm and final are mostly multiple choice with a few short answers at the end, of which you only need to answer your choice of a selection of questions. They're extremely fair and you will likely get a near-perfect score if you study the slides. The paper is very interesting. It has you give a policy proposal about a current event in foreign policy. This quarter, it focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Though it doesn't directly relate to course content, you are expected to integrate what's taught in the class into the paper. It's graded relatively softly, but don't count on it boosting your grade like the midterm and final. Overall, the grade is set up like this: 15% participation/attendance in discussions, 5% analysis paper proposal (a 1-page write-up that functions as an outline for the paper; graded for completion), 20% midterm, 30% final paper, 30% final.

The workload for this class is very light. Paying attention in lectures and glancing through your notes shortly thereafter will be all the preparation for the exams that you need, and the textbook reading is not required (seriously, don't waste your time with it). Discussions are easygoing and sometimes have a fun activity, like a debate on a current policy issue. They're mostly used for paper and exam preparation, though. The only major time commitment outside of class is the paper, which is only five to six pages long and stretches over most of the quarter.

In conclusion, take this class with Professor Min! It's a great way to fulfill pre-major requirements for the political science major and is a pretty easy social analysis GE (though there are probably options that require even less work).