The overall class itself was not bad and the lectures were reasonable and decent. The professor also explained well enough for us to understand and the materials for us to read as well as the assignments given once a week were also doable and not too difficult. The only thing that I disliked during this class was the midterms. The reason was that our grades were deducted here and there and they either gave us vague reasons without proper explanation for the deduction or provided no reasons at all. As over half of the total grades relied on the midterms and final exams, it would be appreciated if the professor provided proper reasons for point deductions. However, overall, the class experience was okay.

Professor Pike is truly amazing, he genuinely cares about the material and his students. The class was composed of weekly responses and a multiple choice midterm and final. He’s very responsive in office hours and overall amazing. Would definitely recommend!!!

The official course title was “POL SCI 139 - Special Studies in International Relations: Technology and International Relations”
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🧑‍💻 Notable mentions about the course:
▪️no textbooks required (assigned readings are via Canvas)
▪️Weekly discussion boards
▪️attendance NOT required (somewhat commuter friendly course)*
▪️*records audio only and posts slideshow/PowerPoint lectures separately
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NOTE: I don’t like to promise people that this class is an easy A, as I met people in “easy A” classes, but they did not do well because they either had too busy of a schedule or struggle in writing essays. With that said, I think that Pike classes are among the easier and more engaging classes to take at UCLA, which offers greater accommodation to students who work and/or takes 3+ classes and wish to go to law school.
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This is my first class taken with Dr. Pike and students are not wrong that he sits alongside one of the best political science professors at UCLA! I was a bit skeptical about the course at first because I personally enjoy American Politics courses or Race, Ethnicity, and Politics concentrated courses, but Professor Pike makes the lectures interesting and engaging. I like when he often inserts his bit of humor to lighten up the mood and make the lectures more fun. If you are a bit nervous coming up to professors to talk about grading, IR topics, research, and such, he is very approachable and kind.
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The readings may at times feel pretty Eurocentric (a common complaint about research within IR among political science students), but during lecture Professor Pike does make everything feel relevant and important…though everything is important. I personally felt that he broke down everything in an easy to understand manner (with the help of real life examples/scenarios), especially for students like myself who doesn’t place much focus in studying IR theory and feel nervous on taking IR classes.
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I am unsure whether if it were the circumstances of this quarter, but he allowed students to contest their grades, especially when the syllabus failed to reflect what student’s expected in to be marked down for. After multiple students bringing this issue to his attention, he agreed to regrade essays that were marked down for “not referencing enough readings” (which was the thing that the syllabus didn’t mention). I did not have this issue but I felt the TA marked me down too much for being a bit vague on my topic sentences (something Professor Pike didn’t do in the other midterm essay he graded) in my thesis in the essay they graded, so I contested it with professor Pike to have a second opinion and he was kind enough to look it over and regrade it. I can’t speak for his other classes, but I thought that he was awesome in offering students for their midterm to be graded on “unfair” criteria not mentioned in the syllabus or TA-Professor grading discrepancies.
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🗣️ Discussion Boards: I felt they were pretty easy and sometimes I wasn’t able to do the readings but if you attended lecture, you were able to answer them a bit easier. They are not strict in citing pages as long as you demonstrate you are engaging in the course material and ask thought provoking questions to students (required for replying to student’s posts), you will be fine.
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📖 Readings:
Readings are posted online via Canvas. There usually was about 4 readings a week, 2 for the first class of the week and 2 for the second class of the week. They were pretty straight forward and many readings are 30+ pages long, and can be done either before of after lecture, whichever works best for students.
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📝 Midterm/Final: both were take-home essays where you had to choose two essays among the few prompts given. The prompts are not provided ahead of time, nor is there a study guide provided. The essays expect students to cite the readings and not what is in class (although I personally felt the lectures were still helpful in attending since they summarize/guide students in what to focus on in the readings), therefore the it is important to not miss a single reading if you wish to walk away with an A in the class (unless you decide to cram and skim the readings during the exams) 📚👀.
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📈 About extra credit:
He did offer extra credit if 50% or more of the class did evaluations. I don’t know how much but it sure is more than what most political science professors offer. If he doesn’t offer this in his future classes, it wouldn’t hurt to ask about it.
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Important things to note ‼️🙇🏻
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📚 About getting an A+…
I believe his policy changed about grading from talking to my roommate who took this came exact class a few years ago, but now he awards A+ grade to the top 6 students in the class! 🫠 I believe this policy applies to all Pike’s 139 classes. If you are looking for a guaranteed A+, I would keep this in mind since TA grading and his own grading can influence your standing in this. A student in the GroupMe for this class mentioned how they previously took Pike and they were in the 99% range and still didn’t receive an A+. Because the class is easier, it is also makes it harder to get an A+. This quarter has been more hectic so I believe the top 6 students had at least a 97% or above.
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🌼 Spring 2024 disclaimer:
This quarter was pretty hectic and Professor Pike was among the few professors that did accommodate students when they were emotionally and academically impacted with the protests. He gave extensions and made the final optional (for those that wish to boost their grade if they got a mediocre grade from the midterm), so keep this in mind when reading reviews about him for Spring 2024 in the way he graded or weighed certain assignments since his original syllabus changed. Based off my experience and other student’s feedback from when they took Pike during COVID-19 and the TA union strikes, he is among the few professors that cares and understands that these things do impact students in a various ways and does make changes I felt were reasonable.

Honestly really glad I took this course. Professor Pike is a really fun guy with a good sense of humor and solid lectures. As of last quarter, he completely changed the course around making it waaay easier. The only assignments now are discussion posts (participation) and then a midterm and final which are mostly multiple choice. Both tests were super easy imo, I ended up getting -1 on both which was the bets Ive ever done on any test lol. Pike is also always there at office hours and is down to give extensions or other accommodations. I would definitely recommend this class as a super easy upper div A for other poli sci majors!

BRO is the GOAT!!! I swear the non-tenured professors in the poli sci department are the only reason I still love the major! Although the lectures may appear monotoned, he does sneak in some dry humor and I can confirm that I think it's funny. The concepts seem confusing sometimes but he dumbs it down perfectly where it is easy to apply to the international playbook of today. There's super relevant examples, and good readings (if you opt into reading lol), that really help facilitate a deeper understanding when the tests come around. There were two exams, the midterm was all multiple choice (30ish questions) and the final was multiple choice and free response (32 and 3). Overall, it was a great class and I am glad to have taken it in my final quarter, it tied my poli sci degree with a bow.

I really like Professor Pike, the content is simplified and is easy to understand the material. However, I would highly suggest studying on exams as some questions may not be as easy to understand in terms of wording, particularly understand all the reasons or motivations that lead to a particular Cold War event. Even for a multiple choice, it was slightly difficult for me to understand what he was trying to ask but he does curve and he does provide extra credit on some questions if you answer correctly. For the paper, make sure to follow all of the directions when asked or you will be deducted. The content is highly interesting so I would recommend.

Pike's classes are easy to follow and his little jokes keep the class light-hearted and entertaining. I have taken multiple classes with Pike and he is for the people, he has no intention of hurting people's GPA and grades generously. Overall I would take any type of class that Pike was teaching, but this course was particularly interesting. He navigated talking about politically charged topics in an appropriate and respectful manner.

Pike is one of the only reasonable people in the poli sci department at UCLA. Lectures are easy to follow, he is a relaxed professor, and overall nice person. I went to discuss m midterm with him and he actually regraded the test and gave me a significant number of points back. I was not a fan of the TA but that is not his issue. If you just read and pay attention to specific terms that he emphasizes, you will pass with a good grade.

This class was interesting and I appreciated how straightforward it was. It was a good introduction to US Foreign Policy. Grade breakdown was 30% midterm, 40% final, and 30% weekly discussion posts. Discussion posts were a free 30% of your grade, as they were pretty much based on completion. Midterm and final format was the same: short ID terms (choose 8 out of 11 options), one short essay, and one long essay. Pike was against giving out study guides and didn’t provide a potential list of terms or questions like other professors do, however I thought this was reasonable and the exams were not difficult. He would also hint at what concepts might be on exams during lecture, and it was pretty easy to discern which concepts were important. Pike assigned 4 readings per week, though they were not necessary for the exams. However because his lectures are essentially summaries of the readings, I found it helpful to skim through some of them to clarify anything from the lectures. If you study for the exams you will do well. Though there is a lot of information, none of the concepts are complex. For the final he allowed us the full 3 hours despite it being the same format as the 1 hour 15 minute midterm, and also let us have a cheat sheet for the final. If you put in some effort to study for the midterm and final, it’s an easy A.

Pike is a super chill professor that wants you to do well. Audio in lectures is recorded and slides are always posted. Your grade is based on three "policy briefs," which are essentially mini reports, weekly discussion posts, and a final annotated bibliography. Readings aren't always necessary and expectations are always set clearly. You don't have to spend over 3 hours a week outside of lecture to get an A. I'd definitely recommend Pike and this class!