POL SCI 118
Political Violence
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Enforced requisite: course 10. Designed for juniors/seniors. Examination of theories of international relations and international law, with special emphasis on warfare, from conquest of America to end of World War II. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2016 - I really liked this class. It was more of a political theory class than an international relations class, so if you hate philosophy, I wouldn’t recommend this class. Professor Pagden is a great lecturer and is really awesome to talk with in office hours (especially about Vitoria and all of his crazy ideas). He’s pretty cool and definitely happy to chat with you. I recommend downloading the slides he puts on the class website and then typing what he says at the bottom where it says, “notes,” because you won’t have enough time to type (let alone write) everything that is on the slides because he usually includes long quotes. Even though he uploads the slides, you do really need to go to class because he expands on the concepts a lot and sometimes the theorists' ideas. I thought the professor did an excellent job at explaining the material and helping students to differentiate between the theorists' views. He pretty much gives you the info to write on the exams. In addition, I felt the exams actually tested how well we understood the material and challenged our critical thinking skills; they were not tests of mere memorization (but a little).
Fall 2016 - I really liked this class. It was more of a political theory class than an international relations class, so if you hate philosophy, I wouldn’t recommend this class. Professor Pagden is a great lecturer and is really awesome to talk with in office hours (especially about Vitoria and all of his crazy ideas). He’s pretty cool and definitely happy to chat with you. I recommend downloading the slides he puts on the class website and then typing what he says at the bottom where it says, “notes,” because you won’t have enough time to type (let alone write) everything that is on the slides because he usually includes long quotes. Even though he uploads the slides, you do really need to go to class because he expands on the concepts a lot and sometimes the theorists' ideas. I thought the professor did an excellent job at explaining the material and helping students to differentiate between the theorists' views. He pretty much gives you the info to write on the exams. In addition, I felt the exams actually tested how well we understood the material and challenged our critical thinking skills; they were not tests of mere memorization (but a little).
Most Helpful Review
Many of the aforementioned comments are somewhat justified--Professor Tong does utilize the Socratic Method to some degree and the lectures can seem somewhat circuitous. But no other political science professor I have had has been more concerned about student learning and moreover student development. Professor Tong himself not only conducted sessions for both the midterm and final but also conducted similarly awesome review sessions especially for frequent absentees. Moreover, Professor Tong is one of the few professors to have ever taken a proactive, individual interest in me as a student and person--he memorized the names, birthdays, and unique characteristics of all the students in his class!!! Finally, Professor Tong is the only professor to ever invite a few high performers on the midterm and me to a dinner outside of class. Professor Tong is indeed difficult and his lectures do seem ominous, but both traits are manifestations of his deep concern for his students. His lecture's length and roundaboutness ensure the learning of concepts both thoroughly and from different viewpoints. He even spends much of the class providing mental tricks in order to help his students memorize the concepts! The difficulty of his class cannot be avoided, but his amazing energy and utterly unique concern with the student as an individual rather than as a number far dwarf that difficulty. Lastly, for those who wish to simply take the class for the grade. Though I have repeatedly addressed his difficulty, I cannot underscore his fairness. Professor Tong will NOT test concepts which were not covered in the course--he cancelled an essay topic on his final simply because we did not cover it in the lecture. Though it sounds cliche, if you put in the work, you WILL get an A or at least an A-. He provides an excellent extra project simply to help his students both learn out of class and receive a higher grade in the class. Professor Tong is tough but fair. He is ever well meaning and helpful--the only professor I as a Senior, who has taken four classes every quarter, have ever had to really take an interest in the student. His unrivaled spunk and caring are what make Professor Tong the greatest teacher let alone professor I have ever had.
Many of the aforementioned comments are somewhat justified--Professor Tong does utilize the Socratic Method to some degree and the lectures can seem somewhat circuitous. But no other political science professor I have had has been more concerned about student learning and moreover student development. Professor Tong himself not only conducted sessions for both the midterm and final but also conducted similarly awesome review sessions especially for frequent absentees. Moreover, Professor Tong is one of the few professors to have ever taken a proactive, individual interest in me as a student and person--he memorized the names, birthdays, and unique characteristics of all the students in his class!!! Finally, Professor Tong is the only professor to ever invite a few high performers on the midterm and me to a dinner outside of class. Professor Tong is indeed difficult and his lectures do seem ominous, but both traits are manifestations of his deep concern for his students. His lecture's length and roundaboutness ensure the learning of concepts both thoroughly and from different viewpoints. He even spends much of the class providing mental tricks in order to help his students memorize the concepts! The difficulty of his class cannot be avoided, but his amazing energy and utterly unique concern with the student as an individual rather than as a number far dwarf that difficulty. Lastly, for those who wish to simply take the class for the grade. Though I have repeatedly addressed his difficulty, I cannot underscore his fairness. Professor Tong will NOT test concepts which were not covered in the course--he cancelled an essay topic on his final simply because we did not cover it in the lecture. Though it sounds cliche, if you put in the work, you WILL get an A or at least an A-. He provides an excellent extra project simply to help his students both learn out of class and receive a higher grade in the class. Professor Tong is tough but fair. He is ever well meaning and helpful--the only professor I as a Senior, who has taken four classes every quarter, have ever had to really take an interest in the student. His unrivaled spunk and caring are what make Professor Tong the greatest teacher let alone professor I have ever had.
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