This class is very straight forward, and the professor is incredibly organized. Everything you need to succeed is there (e.g., the textbook). You don't really need to go to lecture for this class because all of the material thats covered in the midterm + final is in the textbook. If you read the textbook chapters every week and take extensive notes, you should be fine for the midterm + final. You need to designate time every week for this class, it's very doable. Many people complained about this class, but I don't think they read the textbook and just thought the professor would hand them a good grade. All in all, if you are planning to go to Law School, this is a good class to take especially if you are interested in international law.

Leslie Johns may not be every person’s cup of tea, but if there was ever a cup of tea made perfectly for me it would be her. The #1 thing I have to say about this class is that it is extremely high maintenance— you will not be able to do well without doing the readings both from the textbook and the section cases. Honestly, you could get by not going to lecture at all and just taking extensive notes on the readings. So then, what is the advantage to going to lecture? Why did I, a student who consistently finds every reason not to attend lectures, go every week? BECAUSE LESLIE JOHNS IS SO QUIRKY AND FUNNY. This rubs many people the wrong way, but to me she is the epitome of authenticity. Not only is she funny, but she delivers the lectures in such an anecdotal way that you may find yourself remembering her silly comments and examples as you answer exam questions.

As far as logistics, the grade is based on 15% participation in section, 15% section quizzes, 30% midterm, and 40% final. Participation is pretty much a given as long as you attend section, and the section quizzes are designed to be super easy as long as you read the case. I would normally find additional section reading annoying and unnecessary, but the cases really helped reinforce topics from the chapter and understand how what we were learning applied to the real world. I was pretty nervous before the midterm as she doesn’t provide a study guide/any sort of direction of what to study, but my word of advice here is anything with a list— study it! Acronyms can help remember all of the lists. Despite my best efforts to prepare, there were a few things I did not know, but she curves so much that I was still able to get an A. Both exams were difficult, but in my opinion fair.
Additionally, since she wrote the book herself she provides worksheets that go along with the textbook perfectly and I found a lot of the exam questions coming from content on the worksheets. This made the class feel extremely cohesive and linear!

Overall, I highly recommend this class if you are taking it during a quarter when you can devote a lot of time and effort to it. It is incredibly rewarding when you put in the time, and I walked away wanting to completely pivot my career plans to the foreign service field.

This class can be as amazing or as awful as you make it. It is most useful for those who are interested in international relations and/or going into law. She can be a great resource/ mentor as well as provide rec letters.
The grade break down is 15% participation in section 15% section quizzes (over a case study that applies to the weeks topics), 30% midterm and 40% final. Each week there is a 40-60 page textbook reading from the book the professor wrote.
To succeed in this class you need to do the readings and take detailed notes, I suggest using the worksheets on the publishers website to guide note taking. Each bolded term and LIST is important. Case studies talked about in the book and then also in class will be important.
The midterm was scary because we did not know what to expect. The format was short answer. There were questions with a list of vocab words we needed to define, explain how concepts relate, or list points of a definition. It is entirely memory based, acronyms saved the day for me. In addition, they are in person and you CANNOT miss them.
Class is pretty useless, she just goes over parts of the book. I would suggest going just to reaffirm and ask any questions, but it is not a big deal if you miss some. She does NOT record lectures.
To end, I will say she is quirky and can come off as insensitive or weird to some, but I enjoyed her personality. She is clearly incredibly knowledgeable and a treat to learn from.

I'm a pretty much straight a student with an occasional a- or b+ every now and then and tbh this class was interesting content-wise, but SO hard. I will be fair and say I never attended lecture, like not even once, I just read her textbook. however, I actually did a lot better than the friends I had that went to lecture so I don't really think the lecture was big. she based her lecture off her book (required textbook), and the notes from class were a just less detailed overview of each chapter, so I had no incentive to go to class. She does not record or post slides btw. An A in her class is 93.3% & she does not round, even if you are at a 93.2. The class itself is so interesting which is why it sucks she kinda ruined it for so many ppl. I highly recommend anyone thinking about this class to take global studies 103: globalization and global governance with MIN. it counts to ur pol sci major and covers what this class does but in a way with fair grading!

Content we went over: making international law, upholding it, treaties, human rights, environmental law, armed conflict, use of force (a lot for one class, midterm was 3 chapters, final is cummalitive 3+5 new chapters)

40% final 30% midterm: same format- like 8 pages of short answer questions using:
a. term definitions (define these terms, refer to her website and memorize the chapter glossary)
b. case related questions: these cases will come from the textbook or section. memorize each chapte's main case study
c. worksheet questions: go to her website (link in her syllabus) and do the worksheets for each chapter. About 60% of the questions come directly (and sometimes word for word) from those... lots of people didn't realize this, but MEMORIZE that shit it will help u sm
d. some stupid questions that no one will get (name of a judge from a specific case?? like who would remember that...)
e. (only for final) she experimented with multiple choice but it was horrid. oddly specific questions with trippy and similar answer choices.
THE CURVE IS WILD IN THIS CLASS. I got a 55 on the midterm and it curved to 85. You might think I can get over 55 easily.... lol I was above the class avg. after the midterm everyone learned how her tests work so the final curve was no where near as big, maybe like 10%, idk what my final grade was bc she doesn't use canvas, but I got an A- in the class and I had a 85 on the midterm and 100 in quizzes and participation, so to be in the a- range I needed minimum 88 but up to 95 (I think I got like a 93)
15% section participation/attendance (you need to ACC participate, the TAs grade you out of 10 each time- ask/answer like 2 times for full credit worked for me)
15% weekly quiz based on 10-20 pages of case study reading (questions will be like: who are involved, what was the name of the treaty, etc.) rlly basic and easy, but you need to do the reading for it (I always read the case study walking to section and got 100 each time

I think the only reason why reviews are so high for this class is because they were during COVID. The tests for this class are TERRIBLE and Professor Johns will not tell you what to study. You would have to memorize each sentence of the textbook (we read like 9 chapters - at least 500 pages) to get a good grade because she will test on any of it, including things that she does not go over in class. She will test on very specific examples, and even though I definitely put in much more studying time than my classmates, I still felt like I did not know half of the final. Furthermore, she is just weird. She makes jokes while talking about genocide and war crimes and doesn't let students use the bathroom during tests. She also made people with COVID take the midterm in her own office because she "doesn't care if she gets COVID" which is blatantly against UCLA policy. Don't take this class if you don't have to.

I actually enjoyed the format of doing the lectures on your own pace, because it let me focus on other classes more during midterms. However, it was easy to get behind and I also felt that there was no leeway on the grading with the unit assessments. The GroupMe for the class was immediately shut down and because there were no live sessions, finding help was more tricky. The content was definitely interesting, but I don't think I would take a class like this again.

I took this class during a completely online COVID quarter, and it was great. Prof Johns filmed all lectures (and TA sections) ahead of time, and the class is completely asynchronous. All quizzes and tests open on day one and there are no due dates until the last day of finals week. You can work at your own pace, so I just did all the readings and lectures and tests super quickly so I could be done with the class. Prof and the TA who recorded the sections are both super organized and clear, there's no excuse to get below an A in this class because everything is open note and at your own pace. I highly recommend this class!

I really liked the structure of the course. This class is a lot of work, and since all of the work is not due till the end of the quarter, it is easy to fall behind. I would recommend sticking with the planned schedule she has. Because this course is completely asynchronous, there is not much opportunity to connect with other students. I found the material to be really interested so I enjoyed reading the textbook and watching the lectures. The professors and TAs feel very distant, although I am sure if you reach out to them they will gladly help you. I only ever emailed my TA once and they were helpful. There are ten worksheets and five assessments, and they were all okay, not too bad. I personally had a good experience so I would recommend this class, however, do not take it if you do not have any interest in international law because it is a bit intense. Be prepared to work independently and do not rush during the assignments. Complete them at your own pace and submit with you feel confident in your work.

I took this class when it was online for fall 2020 nad I thought it was OK. The class was asynchronous with all the classes and discussion sections being recorded. Grading of the coursework seemed fair however the material oftentimes became confusing. I still earned an A no problem but it wasn't the easiest material to understand. If you read you should be fine. The TAs were also pretty helpful in clarifying any questions we had.

(COVID ONLINE REVIEW)
This class was very interesting and insightful in regards to understanding international law. I found the course material all to be fascinating, the only issue was the amount of work and attention needed.

I would spend on average 1-2 hours reading a case which varied in page numbers (anywhere between 5-20ish pages). I would then spend an additional 1-2 hours doing the worksheet for each case (10 worksheets/quizzes for 10 cases). Each worksheet had about 4/5 multiple choice questions with 1/2 short answer questions. Some questions were very easy while others needed you to look at the textbook alongside the casebook to find the answers (which added some additional time required for each case). Short answer questions typically asked you to explain certain concepts in international law or to apply concepts learned in a different scenario where you give your own opinion.

There were also 5 unit assessments where it compiled multiple choice questions, (kinda) fill in the blanks, matching related concepts/keywords, and some short answer questions. There would be about 15 questions per unit assessment and it would usually take another 1-2 hours.

Along with the two different textbooks, there were also videos that proved to be helpful in understanding the course that averaged about 1-1.5 hours.
The class was completely asynchronous and allowed for you to turn in the assignments at your own leisure. The class was weighted with 50% being the unit assessments and the other 50% being the worksheets.

Overall, I found the class to be very enjoyable despite its demanding nature. It really required attentiveness and attention to detail. I would say the only reason that I did not do better in the class is because I often would skip through the videos offered and glance through the textbook. I also did all of the work in the last 6 weeks of class. But if you have no issue dedicating about 4-6 hours per case then I highly recommend this class. Especially if you want a better grasp on understanding international law, or just law in general.

Again, just reiterating that you probably will only like this class if you are actually interested in law.