I received an A+ in this class. I am selling my 130 pages typed-up notes for this class (all lectures + discussions) for only $15. They can be shared right away. Email me at lanasamii19@gmail.com if interested.

The key to an A in this class is to 1) do well on the paper 2) collect good notes/memorize the content from the posted slides and bring this knowledge to the midterm and final. You do NOT need to read the textbook in order to do well (though some may find it helpful. In my opinion, though, it was way too much reading to do [~100 pages per week] and I was fine without it).

Professor Min is a great lecturer and I will miss being in his class! I'm a poli sci major but I would recommend this class to anyone interested in learning how states interact with each other and applying theories to trends we see in the world today - super interesting stuff!

I loved this class and I highly recommend it. Min was very clear during lecture and very helpful before and after class as well as during office hours. Reading the textbook is not necessary, as it basically just regurgitates his lecture, but it was helpful in my opinion. The assessments are multiple choice and easy enough if you study. The discussions and practice midterms and finals were also very helpful. This class gave me an appreciation for and interest in world politics and more awareness about politics in the world outside the US.

Professor Min is one of if not the best professor that I have had during my time at UCLA. His lectures were extremely clear. He provided detailed breakdowns for concepts and theories—allowing us to contextualise each of them with a relevant real-life application of them—and even blanked out certain key terms and sentences from the powerpoint PDF for lectures that he made available prior to classes to allow us to fill in the blanks as we went along. The concepts we learned were genuinely interesting and I’ve already found myself applying some of the topics related to bargaining and negotiation in daily life. We were assigned weekly, open-book quizzes once a week which very well-designed and easy. Discussions were enjoyable and gave us further opportunities to apply what we learned to real-life situations. The ‘final’ for this class is a 5-6 page long analysis paper on a significant world issue related to the concepts we studied. Last year, it was a paper on the Iranian nuclear issue and this year it was about the most effective ways for the U.S. to handle North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. The paper was not a cake-walk by any means, but if you have passable research skills and understood content well enough, you will do very well. I haven’t heard of anyone who got below a B+ on it. Grade breakdown: Quizzes 45%, Paper 40%, Participation in section 15%. Overall amazing G.E that I would recommend to anyone regardless of major.

---Lecture: Min is the one of the best lecturers I have had so far. He makes the lectures extremely engaging and tries his best to incorporate entertaining elements. The information is presented very clearly, and his slides are a sufficient replacement for the textbook.
---Discussion: Sections do not provide much new information, but they do clarify certain concepts and provide examples of situations that are useful to bring up during exams.
---Paper: Min gave an interesting topic for the paper, and I had fun researching for it. The deadlines are reasonable, and the TAs offer good advice throughout the process.
---Exams: The midterm and final were both pretty difficult, but they were reasonable. You do have to do quite well on both exams and the paper to get an A in the class.
---Tips: Min provides sufficient information through his lectures. The slides are useful but are not a stand alone. You don't need the textbook if you use the recourses Min gives.

Professor Min is easily the best professor I have taken at UCLA. He was extremely clear in his lectures, which were accompanied by a slideshow, which he gave to the class with some of the terms and definitions blanked out to help us follow along. Most weeks (8 of 10) we had to do a CCLE-based quiz of about 15 questions covering the topics that we covered in class, with the quiz comprising 30% of our grade. There was no final, rather we had to submit a six-page essay on an important foreign policy issue, in Fall 2021 the essay examined where the US went wrong in Afghanistan. This essay was broken into a proposal due week 3 (5% of grade), a draft due week 8, and the actual essay (45% of grade) due on the Monday of week 9, which meant that there we had nothing to do during Finals week for this class. Participation in discussion sections counted for 20% of the grade. I had Merabi as my TA and he was very knowledgable on all of the subjects and very open to helping out if I had any questions or problems. Overall, if I could take this course again, I would not hesitate to and I would recommend taking it as a GE credit as you do not need to understand any complexities of political science that Professor Min does not cover.

Selling textbook pdf for cheap, email me at gustvmahlr@gmail.com

If you read the textbook, and then use the slides in addition to the readings, you will do well in the class. Lectures are very straightforward, and he seems a fair guy and is young (cogent, does not ramble unnecessarily). The midterm practice exam he gives is much easier than the actual midterm, so be aware. The midterm consists of multiple choice as well as short answer questions. The final is similar to the midterm, with 70 questions (20 from first half, 50 from the second half). You pick 2/4 short answer prompts to respond to from the first half of the quarter, and 4/6 prompts from the second half.

I have the textbook pdf, and will sell it for very cheap, as well as answer any questions you need about the class! Please email me at gustvmahlr@gmail.com

This class was really interesting and highly recommend if you need a social analysis GE. Min is a very funny professor and gives really engaging lectures. I rented the textbook because I thought it was essential to read it but stopped around the 4th week or so and honestly don't get the book. It does highlight some material we cover in class more in depth but as long as you go lecture and grasp the material you should be fine. He blanks out some notes from the slides he posts online to motivate students to go to class to see the blanked out parts but honestly lecture wasn't that bad.

If you're going to take PS20, you've got to take it with Professor Min even if you have to wait a quarter or two. He's by far the most straightforward and reasonable professor I've ever had. He expects you to get your work done and participate (discussions are very mandatory) but he only requires what he believes you ought to do to understand the class concepts. There's only a midterm, final, and one paper (along with proposal, outline, etc.) but just review the slides and you will be absolutely fine. Textbook is a decent supplement but you don't really need it--download for free if you want but definitely don't spend the money to get a hard copy. Lectures aren't mandatory since all the slides are posted on CCLE although they do have blanks you need to be in lecture to fill out (tbh just highlight the blank, sometimes it shows up), HOWEVER, he's such an engaging, smart, and funny guy that it's worth your time to show up. He once read the entirety of the Cardi B-Nicki Minaj feud post (profanity included) to demonstrate a concept. At his very last lecture, the whole class applauded, which hasn't happened in any of my other classes, which just goes to show what a swell dude he is. 100% would take this class again.

I took this fall quarter of my freshman year and I thought that it was completely doable. Class consists of a midterm, a "research" paper, and a final. Discussion is mandatory. The final and the midterm are pretty easy if you just go over the slides. No need to really go to class because he puts the lecture slides online (but he does black out some key words so you'll need to get those from a friend). Overall, take the class for an easy GPA bump. I didn't put in a ton of effort and did well. For the paper, it's a pretty open ended questions that's easy to answer. Also, they really hold your hand through the writing process. You have to submit a proposal one week, then a two page outline a few weeks later, then a rough draft later, and then finally the final draft during week 9. It's literally impossible to fall behind because they guide you through it. Min is an engaging lecturer, though can get boring during lame material. Min is also super helpful during office hours, and an overall 10/10 guy to be around. Take the class.