This is quite possibly one of the most boring classes I have taken at UCLA. The reading is dense and often tough to understand, lecture consists of Professor Dienstag talking without multimedia for 75 minutes each lecture. I really don't have respect for Dienstag because all he does for this class is lectures. The TA are the ones who grade the papers and those are the only grades. Don't take this class if you can't stand 75 minutes of a mono toned description of Socratic politics. The one thing I can say good about this class is that it has made me certain that I do not want to study this field of political science.

Warning: This class should NOT be taken as a filler/fun class or a GE. If you want a fun class with Dienstag, consider Politics, Theory and Film (113B)

The Teacher:

Dienstag is hilarious and a great lecturer. He brought a light saber to one of the lectures, and a small piece of the Berlin wall to another.

The Class:
The material is very dry and his voice is monotone - a great lullaby. This is why I fell asleep almost every lecture despite his enthusiasm and energy. It's the material that gets boring.

The essays are annoying because you are reading and analyzing dense material: Aristotle, Plato, Hobbes, Sophocles, etc.

The grading, depending largely on your TA, is moderate to hard.

I put in lots of effort, and still got a B+. After you get through the quarter for this class, you are entertained by the lectures, but exhausted by the time you spent on this one class.

Even Dienstag's charisma can't keep you interested in the material. You have to love political theory if you really want to enjoy the class material. Otherwise, it's an uphill battle.

Dienstag is a great lecturer. I think I picked the right teacher but the wrong class.

You might need to suffer through this class if you are a poli sci major and this is your prerequisite. It's like getting a rotten tooth pulled.

If you need to take this class, take it with a friend or roommate for some relief and company.

He's an amazing professor: professional, knowledgeable, funny, organized, and helpful. Everything he said had me thinking "Wow."

Make sure you keep up with the reading and attend lecture. The lectures are your glasses to the very foggy material.

His office hours are helpful if you actually have a question (it's one-on-one style). But I highly recommend going to OH.

Libby Barringer was my TA, and she really cared about your understanding of the material. She was good at getting the students to actively participate and derive the answers to the vagueness of the material. Plus, she actually answers questions, and will sit with you until you understand whatever you need to.

Overall, this class was amazing! It was hard and my brain hurt (literally) everytime we had an essay to write, but I was truly sad when it ended.

I DO NOT recommend this class to students who have troubles with writing, reading, or the English language in general.

But if you like to think, this class is for you.

Very funny lectures, but very intelligent man. Pay attention in his lectures and take good notes and you will understand the readings that he gives. Try not to fall behind and read the book before he gives his lecture on the book.

Dienstag is a great lecturer. The reading material is pretty dry but if you are somewhat interested in political theory, it isn't tht bad. The essays are tough but not impossible, as is the final. If you procrastinate and read texts a couple days before an essay is due, this class is not for you. Being a good student and keeping up with the required material is necessary. All in all, Dienstag makes this a really interesting and fun class to take (despite its difficulty and dryness).

The professor is very knowledge and engaging. He creates excellent metaphors and analogies to concretely explain abstract ideas. He seems standoffish, but is actually quite accessible and even allows for multiple students to ask him questions after lecture. Even during the 1 hour lecture, he pauses to ask for questions.

Althea as TA is excellent. She is knowledge and always ready to help students.

Professor Dienstag is a fantastic lecturer. He is funny, but straight to the point. Also, his interpretations of the books is excellent. He gives you something to think about in every single lectures. For people who don't have a habit of reading a lot (or don't have a habit of reading period) this class might be a problem. The books I read in this class were Aristotle, Plato, Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau and Tocqueville, also a play by Sophocles, too. So if you really have an interest in Political Science and, more specific, those authors up there you should take this class because it will leave you a lot of insight.
I'm a freshman and this is my first quarter in college but I have to say if you have a good work ethics (no procrastination) then the work load is not easy but not impossible to do: 3 5-6 pages Papers, 1 final and 10% participation in the discussion. The paper is not that bad if you have a good TA and understand the book. I went to my TA for the outline for all three of my papers and it turns out okay. Definitely try to keep up the reading at the end of the ten weeks because that's where the books get a lot harder to read as well as understand. The final is one-hour and if you read the book, pay attention to who says what and the characteristic quote, shouldn't be bad.

Very dry material, the professor is nice, but the grading is HARD. I worked really hard and still ended up with a B+.

Dienstag was a good professor, probably the best you could ask for for PS 10. I think the course could have been pretty dry without someone who was as enthusiastic as he was. However, I disagree with the below poster that the course was "pretty easy." I actually found the workload to be pretty intense; there was quite a bit of dense reading, which you definitely had to do to understand the paper topics, though Dienstag did go over them well in class. It's definitely not an "easy A," but if you do the work and really put effort into your papers, a B+ or higher is certainly attainable (I received an A-). Also, I had Liza for a TA; not sure if she's still a section leader, though. She was good and I learned a lot, but she generally had a reputation of being a more rigorous grader than other TAs. She was very knowledgeable and helpful though, so I wouldn't let that deter you from taking her. Overall an interesting course and very useful, but expect to be challenged.

Dienstag is a great professor! His lectures are both interesting and extremely helpful! I only missed two lectures, but I listened to the podcasts afterwards because the material he covers in each lecture is very relevant. I found all of the readings interesting, and so long as you do the readings and attend lecture, you'll be completely fine understanding the material. His lectures are very effective in breaking down the texts as well. He makes political theory really interesting. The papers are a little tricky because they're looking for a specific style, but going to your TA's office hours helps tremendously. After the first or second paper, it's much easier to get the hang of it. I highly recommend this class for anyone who enjoys philosophy and analytical thinking. I would also highly recommend it as a prerequisite for the political science major. The papers are way more challenging than the final. Dienstag makes it very clear that so long as you do the readings, the final should be no problem, which it wasn't for me. It's actually a really easy way to boost your grade. I did all of the readings, attended every section, and listened to every lecture and got an A in the class. It's really not a heavy workload either. Basically, it's a fair class; do the work and you'll get a good grade. Overall, a very interesting class. Dienstag is surprisingly funny, extremely intelligent, and very insightful. TAKE THIS CLASS!