If you're looking for an easy GE or political science pre-req, this is the class for you. The final and the midterm exams were both open-note, open-textbook so it isn't very difficult to receive the grade you want. You'll also need to put in 2-3 hours per week for the homework assignments. The TAs are fantastic in reinforcing the information from the lectures and reviewing before the exams. This class is a really good intro to international relations and global politics because it touches on a variety of topics that are all very relevant.

I don't know a single person that went to class past Week 1 or 2. She teaches exactly from the textbook and reading the textbook+ doing the homework is enough. Midterm and final both online, take home, open notes, open textbooks. This is the perfect class if you just want a good grade with no effort, but the content is genuinely interesting as well.

This class was overall a pretty easy A. Almost the whole grade is just the midterm, the final, and weekly homework that is graded on completion. Lectures sometimes felt like they were just repeating what we learned in the homework, but Professor Ying is very kind and helpful.

Professor Ying is one of the most caring professors. She believes that you don't need to give out hard tests or homework to make students understand the material. Super easy class, it's a cross between AP Macro and AP world. The TA's are super helpful

Class is light, there was one midterm and one final which pretty much made the whole grade on top of discussions and the inquisitives (which are graded on completion). TAs are nice and helpful and Ying is generally pretty engaging.

Professor Ying is very kind and caring to her students. Her lectures can be a little bit boring at times, but she does her best to teach students valuable material and concepts. Her information is all fantastic, it's just the presentation that lacks at times, as sometimes people wonder what were the main takeaways or most important parts of the lecture. But they were all there, just not emphasized enough. Overall, the Professor was great and I would recommend this class!

Grade Distribution:
Attendance and Participation: 18%
Inquizitive Participation: 21%
Short Papers: 30%
Final Exam: 31%
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Overall, Dr. Ying is an amazing engaging lecturer who wants every student in the class to get an A. She is really good at making lecture engaging especially though class involvement. The class itself is pretty easy although you do need to buy the book (around $45) to do the inquizitives. But as long as you do the inquizitives on time your grade should be fine. The short papers were also pretty easy and there are only 2, making each paper 15% of your grade. They were also only 2 pages each and the prompts are pretty straightforward. For the final exam, I was lucky because the TA strike made the exam online and open-note. But its structure consisted of around 10 identification questions and an essay question. Overall, I highly recommend this class but especially with Dr. Ying as the professor.
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GEs fulfilled by this class:
Foundations of Society and Culture: Social Analysis

Professor Ying was an awesome professor to have for this class! Her lectures were engaging, with her slides super organized and easy to comprehend. She used a lot of examples when discussing different topics which helped make this class more understandable in a real-life global context. She would also have in-class activities in which students were involved, which definitely contributed to increasing engagement and making them more fun. The homework was pretty easy-- reading the textbook chapter and doing an InQuizitive assessment online (you can keep answering questions until you get an 100%) and two two-page papers. Really fun and interesting class and would totally recommend!

I loved taking this class with her it was clear she cares about her students and puts so much effort into making the lectures engaging. She has a good relationship with her students and TAs and is very accommodating of student needs. The work is pretty easy too but its also very engaging and interesting.

I absolutely loved Professor Ying!! She is very knowledgeable about the material and tries to keep the class super engaging through videos and activities. I did not think world politics would be something that I was interested in or good at, but after taking this class I can definitely say my opinion has changed. I highly recommend this class, specifically with Professor Ying. She is one of the best professors I've had.