PS156 with Professor Treisman is one of the best classes I've taken at UCLA. His lectures are very engaging and he makes sure to pause frequently, allowing students to ask questions. The lectures are very well-paced and organized.

The course consists of a midterm, a final, and participation in the sections (occasional quizzes & traditional participation). The midterm and the final are both single essays that ask you to synthesize lecture and reading material to answer a broad question about Russian politics/government. The reading load can sometimes appear overwhelming, but the material is quite engaging and interesting, even though it tends to be quite dense and hefty.

I would highly recommend this class to anyone interested in Russian politics. It's a fascinating subject, and Professor Treisman's organized, well-paced lectures and the interesting readings he assigns are very conducive to student learning. Understanding of the subject and success in the class are dependent on engagement with the readings though, so reading everything assigned is absolutely critical in doing well on the exams.

This isn't the easiest PS class you'll take but it's straightforward. My TA (Blum) was pretty strict on participation so make sure you participate in section (but that depends on the TA of course. If you go to TA office hours it helps. Readings could be pretty long and quizzes were kinda difficult. The paper and midterm, however, are both papers and not difficult! Overall, a lot of work but not super difficult

Treisman is a really interesting lecturer and is really knowledgeable. The midterm is a 5 page paper and so is the final. There was no class at all the week of the midterm. Discussion participation is important because it's 30% of your grade. I'd recommend this class for an interesting political science upper div.

This was my hardest class this quarter but overall I would take it again. Prof Treisman is super knowledgeable

Professor Treisman is by far my favorite professor at UCLA. Not only is he a great lecturer and truly passionate about what he teaches, but he is so patient, kind, and approachable. Throughout every lecture he would take the time to pause and ask the class about any questions before moving on, which would spark some very interesting questions and discussions during every class. The class load is so manageable and set up very fairly. The book, which he authored, is actually so interesting and I really enjoyed reading it, along with the articles he assigned as well. He is also the only teacher I have had that cancelled class the week of the midterm and final so we had more time to work on our take home essays. My TA was Kris and he was amazing and super helpful. Highly recommend this class and looking forward to taking Treisman again.

This was a great class. Professor Treisman is a good lecturer and I went to every lecture because I became so fascinated with the enigma that is Russia. Your grade depends on two 5 page essays and participation in section. My TA was pretty clear about what he expected, and even provided some helpful tips for writing. If you know how to write a decent social science essay, you shouldn't have trouble getting an A. Professor assigns about three or four articles to read per week plus a chapter from his book. It's not necessary to read them all to do well on the essay. You just need to read and understand two or three that zero-in on one aspect of russian politics to write a decent paper. But overall, the reading, in its entirety, is doable. You get a whole week to write the paper and classes aren't scheduled on the week the paper is due. It's not a difficult class and you learn a lot. Professor also assigned his own book, which was pretty good. I got it on amazon for like $12. And the other reading assignments are posted on CCLE. Overall, this class is great. The only caveat is that some TAs might be tougher than others at grading. I took Treisman's democracy class and the TA in that one was tough. To be fair, I was kind of lazy in that class and turned in a half-assed essay. But in this class I felt more prepared and motivated to do well and my grade reflected that.

Grade wholly depends on whether the TA's feel generous. The rubric isn't specific enough for students to be able to confidently know or anticipate what grade they are going to get.

It isn't a hard class. There were quizzes and a take home midterm and final. Professor reads off a script for the entire lecture so it might be boring.

I may have gotten a slightly lower grade than I would of liked but I would retake this class in a heart beat. Treisman is an amazing lecturer who is telling a story through all his research on Russia. He is the top of his field. Once in a while the material got dense but very managable class. TA's prep you for the midterm and final and both. I had Fernando, who did a great job.
If your a poli sci major or have any interest in Russia mainly post communism/ 1980's onward, take this class.

Treisman's lectures are very organized and engaging. (He has a habit of randomly namedropping high-level Russian officials he's talked to.) The class itself involves quite a bit of reading, but it's not too bad and the grading for the essays ends up being pretty generous. Fun class overall and I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in international politics.

Absolutely great teacher. Before taking the class I had no idea on the complexities of Post-Communist Russia. He does a great job of providing enlightening information that really gets to the core of how Russia looks and acts. I didn't do any of the reading except for my two papers that are take home, and I got a B+ on the midterm, still working on the final. The TA I had, Raul, was excellent and I hear the other one is very good too. Talk to your TAs about the papers and do the reading tied to the papers and go to class and you'll have no reason to walk away with less than a B in the class, and it just takes some small effort to move from a B to an A in the class.