Ajax definitely cared about his students and was always available to answer questions. Grading is based on participation/pop quizzes, midterm, final, and term paper. Be prepared for lots of reading each class.

I know he had an N word scandal but besides that he was really good. The lectures were extremely clear and I totally understood everything he said all the time. There was a ton of reading which is important if you plan to take the quizzes but I don't this you really need to do it if not. The workload was on the higher end but certainly not impossible.

Very fair professor and actually a very nice guy if you talk to him during office hours. The class is very interesting but there is a lot of reading. Study hard and you should be fine.
Pay very close attention to the first 3 chapters, as their themes show up extensively throughout the course and in later chapters (make those connections).

Loved this class, honestly. I had a pretty solid background of American politics from AP US Gov but I think Peris definitely added on and enhanced my understanding of the topic. He has good slides, lectures well, and is very knowledgeable. I thought the grading was very fair and the assignments were actually kind of fun. We had to write I believe five essays about certain topics, but they hardly involved any research and took me maybe two hours each. I think he made the class a bit more bearable for COVID and all tests and quizzes (quizzes were based on reading) were open note, but they were overall easy anyways. He also did a good job of incorporating current events into his lectures, especially since the election fell in the middle of the quarter. Cares about student's learning as well. 11/10 would recommend. I really enjoyed going to lecture. And he has two cats that meow in the backgrounds sometimes.