Class structure: 5 policy briefs (2-3 pages each) due sporadically over the quarter, a midterm, and a final.

Overall, I really liked this class. His lectures mirrored the reading for the week, so if you read the textbook (which is a great textbook, might I add. I can't believe I actually read it), you'll do just fine in the class. Yes, his lectures can be boring, but he always elicits discussion on certain issues and that's usually fun and shakes things up a bit. (The discussion we had on the existence of a nuclear taboo was a good one, in my opinion). Anyway, the midterm and final consist of an average of 7 short answers and one essay out of a few options he provides. Pretty straightforward and doable. He even provides a "practice" midterm and final, and I think a few questions might have even ended up on the exams. The policy briefs were really simple - they forced you to understand the material to apply it to international relations so you actually end up internalizing what you learn from class and applying it to real politics. All in all, you should do fine as long as you do the reading and focus on the subjects he lectures on in class. He doesn't try to trick you - he's an honest, straightforward professor whose exams will reward you if you do the work. Also, get Dov as your TA if you can - he was freaking amazing.

His lectures are very dull; the content is interesting. Outside of class he is helpful. Getting an A is a ton of work.

I think that Trager at times can be dull, however I think that he does express passion and an interest in students learning the material. He is open to questions during lecture. He is very nice so go to his office hours if you have any questions. If you can stay awake, study the lecture notes, and really pay attention to the points he spends alot of time on then you can for sure pull out at least a B+. Be aware that grades are heavily influenced by the T.A.

I wasn't a huge fan of his lecturing style. He would read from his slides, very slowly and thoroughly through the easier or less important points, and then speed through more complex ideas. Sometimes his lectures seemed like a mass of random points and facts but I wouldn't go so far as to say that they were disorganized overall. During the section on political economy, I think he assumed that we've all had some sort of background in economics, so that section was kind of confusing for me.

I ended up getting a B+ in the class, which I don't completely understand because I got a 95 on the midterm and I felt much more confident about the final. He cut the paper because our class size was so large, and I'm sure that my grade would have been higher if he had kept the paper.

Overall he's not the best professor you'll ever have, but he's not bad either.