I was not sure about taking this class because when I took it, it was the professor's first quarter teaching at UCLA. However, this class was AMAZING. I highly recommend Professor McNamee and any class he might teach at UCLA. The readings in the class were engaging and not too overwhelming (and it is okay if you miss some). The lectures were especially great - really really well organized, interesting, informative lectures. Each week we covered a different topic about China in fairly impressive detail, but in a way where everything could be understood and retained pretty easily. I know this statement may be controversial, but I think this may be the best China class at UCLA. Professor McNamee was also very kind and responsive to student concerns. I was worried I wouldn't be able to finish my final within the allotted window (it was quite long), and so I told him why I was concerned. Not only did he shorten the final for the entire class, but he offered me extra time even on the shortened version if I needed it. This class is great all around! Take it!

I would highly recommend anyone who is interested at all in learning about China or Chinese politics to take Professor Mcnamee's class. He was very understanding of circumstances that arise and we only had biweekly quizzes (they were open notes), a midterm, and a final. This course was asynchronous so we did not have live lectures, they were all pre-recorded but I would highly recommend to stop by Professor Mcnamee's office hours they are so much fun and he is such an interesting person. Definitely recommend this professor to anyone just make sure to do the readings. Also, we had a slack group for this course which is part of participation but you are not mandated to post all the time but occasionally. For example, if you come across an article about the topics we are talking about or anything related to China you would post it there. Overall I would take his class again if he teaches again next year because his teaching style is amazing and he makes the content understandable if you are confused about anything.

Lachlan is a very good professor and generous grader many people got 100s on the midterm