I honestly thought this was going to be a really easy class but was starkly surprised. While the class is straightforward like others mentioned with only 8 quizzes, those quizzes are oddly specific with what is asked. There are about 20 questions usually that are multiple choice, but again, they are quite specific to the ~3 or so readings for that week that range anywhere from 10-40 pages each. There are also the two lectures that questions also come from.

I supposed this is a great class for people very organized and are able to focus on pieces of texts and lectures for long periods of time. I would find myself studying anywhere from 6-10 hours depending on how productive I was for the day. Chatterjee himself is super nice but I guess I just am not a fan of the grading scheme. I also should mention that the quizzes are timed (30 minutes I think).

In short: if you are good at tedious note taking and studying, this is the class for you. If you struggle with concentration like me, you probably should stray away. I also had a friend who had to pass/no pass this class because it was so difficult for her.

This class was as straightforward as it gets. If you take detailed notes from lecture and the readings, you'll do well on the quizzes and get an A in the class.

*took this online during the Great Pandemic*

Chatterjee has been one of my favorite professors so far at UCLA. I on a whole am terrified of international relations but he makes it easy to understand. He repeats himself often but not in a helpful way to drill down the information into your brain, rather than in an annoying way. I did the readings the day before the quizzes and watched the lectures the day of the quizzes and got an A on all but one of the quizzes. Our grades were based on eight quizzes but in the middle of the term he decided to drop the lowest score and double the highest score. Great dude. Says "which is to say" a lot.

I really enjoyed this class and this professor! The readings were interesting and topics went along perfect with lecture. The readings can be pretty long and the quizzes ask for specific points in the readings but the class is overall worth it. He also always recommended students to come to office hours which were pretty helpful. I would definitely take him!