I really like the professor. He is very kind and helpful. The course is comprised of reading quizzes (given out randomly), a take home midterm, and a take home final. You really have to understand Branstetter's interpretation of Marx to get full credit on the exam. It was a lot harder than I was expecting based on the reviews. I would suggest going to office hours and copious notes during lectures to get full credit on the midterm and final.

Best professor at UCLA. It makes no sense to me why UCLA hasn't already given him tenure status.

Please take Professor Branstetter. He is so amazing. Not going to lie the material is a big fat whattttt but you get use to it after a while. There is no purpose of explaining the orientation of the class as he changes it with each class he teaches. I took pre-modern East Asia and it consisted of a midterm, final and 5 short fill in the blank quizzes. Just try to read the material and if you don't understand it reach out to the professor as he is the most kindest and helpful professor I have ever met. The quizzes are not hard as long as you read, yes they were overwhelming but they are not impossible I promise. Extra credit is given here and their. I don't really know what to say besides he is the best, and he is so understanding.

Branstetter is simply the best. If you have the chance to take a class with him, do it.

Definitely one of my favorite classes that I have taken here just because of how awesome John is. He makes the material interesting even if you know nothing about it, and is very fair in his grading system. There was only a midterm, final, and then 7 short MC quizzes with 2 of the lowest ones being dropped. He offered a few points of extra credit but not enough to really change anything unless you are about half a percent away from a grade bump. Midterm and final are both framed so that you get to choose 8/10 short answer questions of about 200 words, along with a short essay that answers another longer question. I thought the class was more than fair and would definitely take it again.

I really enjoyed PS119 - Premodern East Asian Political Thought with Branstetter. The subject itself is very interesting, and Branstetter covers a wide range of thought - from Confucianism to Zen Buddhism and beyond. Lectures are very well-paced, and Branstetter always answers questions and keeps students engaged. Even though some of the material can get a bit complex, he does a great job in conveying the important parts of the information in an engaging, helpful manner.

The graded material consists of a midterm, a final, and some reading quizzes. The quizzes are fairly straightforward and easy, and just test whether you've read the material or not for the day. The midterm and the final both consist of a series of short answer questions and a longer essay question. I found that none of the exam questions were out of left field or confusing. While the questions covered expansive topics, they were all explained thoroughly throughout the course. Doing the readings is also very important, and lectures can become bewildering if you haven't engaged with the assigned readings.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this class. Branstetter was a fair grader who consistently engaged with students throughout lecture. The readings, as I mentioned, are important to do even if they can be quite dense at times.

Branstetter is one of my favorite profs - this is the second class of his that I've taken! He's really smart, funny, and cares about his students. This class mainly goes over Marx's Capital Vol. 1, which is a *very* heavy read. However, Branstetter does an amazing job of breaking down the reading and pulling out the most important points. The course itself has 7 unannounced quizzes to make sure you keep up with the reading (lowest 2 scores are dropped), a midterm, and a final. Overall, the quizzes/exams aren't too bad as long as you've done the readings and paid attention in class to get a real understanding of the material. You definitely have to put in the work to do well in this class, but it's worth it!

Professor Branstetter is one of the most engaging professors at UCLA. What I appreciated most about this course is how much it opened my eyes to a new way of thinking about political theory, I even became a politcal theory concentration because I loved it. The material is dense, but he goes over it so we’ll in class that you’ll always have a great understanding. He wants you to get an A, and will work with you as much as he can to help you succeed. Gives thorough feedback, fair assignments, and overall an amazing class. Would recommend over and over agin.

Very easy class. Just do the weekly journals and you're good. He even allows you to redo them as many times as you want in order to get a better grade. I didn't read half of any of the readings, and I was able to get by fine by just finding a couple of relevant quotes and going from there.

Amazing class: the usual from Branstetter. While the material is quite challenging, the lectures will help get you through it. I'd highly recommend doing all the reading, even if it's just skimming, but absolutely positively go to lecture. Nothing made sense to me toward the latter half of the quarter. The only reason I was able to end as strongly as I did was because of lecture and because I went back and corroborated it with the reading. That said, it's probably my least favorite Branstetter class. I think his East Asian PT and Comparative PT classes are way better. I think the material in those classes suit him better. Nonetheless, you will not go wrong with this class.