Professor Robinson is hands down my favourite professor I've ever had at UCLA. He restored my faith in being a history major. His lectures are incredibly interesting (as are his own life experiences working for the UN before he became a professor) and he lectures about topics that really matter! Professor Robinson cares about his students learning history, but also really emphasizes international sociopolitical justice.
His classes are very engaging, so you will rarely feel bored. And he has a lecture outline for every lecture so they're well organized and easy to follow.
He had a map quiz, 10% (very easy 10%), a midterm, 30%, and a final, 60%. He gives out very fair study guides. The study guides give a list of terms that will come up in the exam (define and explain the significance- half a page), and a few essay questions, of which one comes up in the midterm and two come up in the final. These essay questions are really good and well constructed questions, but they're definitely difficult, and preparing for all of them (well) is time consuming. I really prioritized preparing for the essays above the short answers, and also above my other exams.
I didn't end up taking the final because Professor Robinson gave us the option to opt out and combine our map quiz grade and midterm grade (because of coronavirus), but the midterm was fair. As mentioned, the difficult part are the essays that you have to answer in the exam- they are really meant to challenge you! But if you really utilize the readings and write down lecture notes then you will do well.
I can't recommend this class enough. The professor is amazing, as is the content. The exams are challenging but fair.

As a history major that has taken a plethora of both lower and upper div history classes, Robinson is EASILY the best history professor at UCLA. His lectures are engaging along with informative and very clear. You can tell that he cares about his subject matter and the students he is teaching. All of the reading materials are online so you don’t need to pay anything, but his lectures are not bruincasted. His class was the one I looked forward to throughout the week. If you are looking for a somewhat easy history class with a great professor I highly recommend this class.

Professor Robinson is a very organized and clear lecturer. The course was focused more on breadth than depth due to the amount of space and material we had to cover, but he still managed to get into more deep issues and conversations involving various countries. The readings were very informative and relevant to class discussions even if they were a little overwhelming, but that's to be expected in any history course, and I appreciated that he occasionally shared parts his own personal experiences with some of the events he covered in class The perspectives on the countries covered were not just a relay of sequence of events and causes and effects, but manages to take a larger-scale look at greater forces and ideas at work in the regions without over-generalizing or presenting a homogenized view of the regions. In particular (as a Filipino) I appreciated that the Professor addressed students during lectures in an inclusive way that didn't present SEAsian people as an "other" necessarily or assume an US/Western-centric lens, its a small detail but one that I think fit very well in the themes of the course itself. Would have been interested in more details regarding more modern Philippines history but that is just my bias and overall I think the focus of the lectures was well organized and warranted. As noted in other reviews, he has study guides for the midterm and final that are extremely helpful when preparing for the tests.

Prof has a good sense of humor which is amusing and serves to lighten the mood while still being sensitive to more serious topics in history. Could probably be a bit less self-deprecating, since I can give assurance that people who attend a lecture are, amazingly, actually very curious willing to listen to what you have to say. (but I understand). Overall a very good course–not a history major but took Southeast Asian Art History in Fall Quarter 2016 and this was a good indirect follow up, as well as being a good introduction for those not as familiar with places and concepts.

He is my favorite professor at UCLA. His classes are extremely straightforward. At the beginning of each lecture he gives out a very clear outline so it's very easy to follow along. His lectures are engaging, concise and to the point. He really emphasizes important themes and makes everything very clear. Before each midterm and final he gives a study guide of all of the possible terms and essay questions that he will give on the actual test, so you know exactly what to expect. And each of his midterm and final outlines make it very easy to study. Highly recommend taking one of his classes, he's amazing!

Professor Robinson is truly a gift to the History Department at UCLA. I believe that life experience is the best teacher. Professor Robinson is not a "life-long" academic like many of the professors at UCLA. He has spent his life trying to help people. From his work in East Timor, to his ability to teach in the classroom, he will captivate your attention and inspire you. I took this class in the Spring of '10 and looked forward to lecture every week. There is a midterm and final, both of which he gives you study guides, so there are no surprises.

This is a great professor. He's super approachable and welcoming during office hours, unlike many other profs. His lectures are pretty interesting and he's actually really funny. He's very knowledgeable about Southeast Asia. Super nice guy all around. But some people have mistaken his being nice for being a pushover - if you talk during his lecture he will call you out and embarrass you (which people deserve). And (random side note), he's one of the few remaining profs who actually dress professionally!! (You will never see him in running shorts or sloppy jeans).