Eric Min
AD
Based on 57 Users
Professor Min is incredible. I looked forward to every one of his lectures and the content of the class itself is really interesting. He posts all his slides beforehand but leaves a couple small blanks in them that you fill out during lecture.
Here's how grades are weighed:
30% - weekly open note, take home quizzes that stay open from Friday to Tuesday but do have a time limit (lowest grade is dropped)
20% - section participation (my TA gave full credit for each section as long as you showed up and answered/asked at least one question)
50% - 5-6 page analysis paper (5% is guaranteed simply by submitting a proposal by the deadline, regardless of how good that proposal is)
Quizzes are very straightforward and based off the slides & lectures. Also, you are guided through the paper bit by bit with each section so it's really not that intimidating! There is also a clear rubric provided for it, so you know exactly what you need to do in order to get a good grade.
The textbook wasn't even necessary in my opinion because Professor Min covered all of the content clearly and concisely during lecture. It's great to read for some extra context though.
Overall, I would highly recommend this class. It was very manageable for me and it was my first quarter at UCLA!
There were no tests in this class, just weekly quizzes which were online and open-note (no collaboration allowed). Super easy and most of the info you could find on the slides. Lectures were pretty helpful.
The big project was this essay worth 50% of our grade on a topic we didn't learn about. That was pretty stressful but I ended up receiving a 97 on it even though I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. The prompt was "What should the United States have done differently in Afghanistan, if anything?" and relating it to class concepts, and I felt overwhelmed because I knew nothing on the topic beforehand.
Professor Min is hands down one of the most clear and engaging lecturers I have encountered at UCLA so far. The format of the class includes a final paper but NO midterm and NO final. Weekly quizzes make up the rest of your grade, but they are very doable if you just go to the lectures. They are also open note/online so you really should really be able to do well on them. I would highly recommend this class if you are interested in politics or just wanting to take a fairly simple GE. You cannot go wrong with professor Min!
The one thing to watch out is the final paper which is worth like 40% of ur grade, just make sure u do decent on that and you'll be set. The quizzes aren't difficult but you have to make sure you are familiar with that week's lecture.
If you need the pdf of the textbook for cheap, hmu:
alana.malika129@gmail.com
Professor Min was a fantastic professor. He really knew the material and was not only able to convey it well but in a way that was extremely easy to understand! I had Julian Michel as my TA and he was also great. He was super fun and interesting to talk to and even brought in a guest speaker who was a german diplomat. Overall, a really interesting and good class and super easy too!
(PS don't worry about the textbook, it's free online and is just an auxiliary thing, but his lectures are very thorough and he gives you all the info you need)
He's a nice guy, but he is new. All his materials are taken from other professors so his slides do not corollate with his tests. What you read in the textbook, his slides, and his exams are all different. The vague wordings on his tests feels like an AP World History exam. Your TA makes or break your grade. My TA wasn't helpful at all and seemed cold at times. You have to go with your TA even if it opposes what the professor says in class. Discussions are mandatory though. He blanks out slides, but classes are not to mandatory. He does try to put in pop references to spice the class up a bit but unnecessary. The workload is low, but it affects your exams later on. Only take this class if you just need units. It is not helpful if you plan on taking upper division IR classes later on.
International relations isn't really my jam, but I absolutely loved taking this class! Professor Min is funny, clear, and engaging. His slides are extremely well-organized and he provides them to students with blanks, which makes it easy to study for exams (although you will have to study for them). I read the textbook religiously at the beginning of the year, but I found myself getting the same grades when I just studied the content from the slides so I would recommend using the textbook as more of a reference for when you get confused. The structure of this class was perfect though and I would recommend it to anyone. My one complaint would be that the discussions were pretty pointless, but that didn't bother me that much in the grand scheme of things.
I would highly recommend taking this class with this professor. The lectures aren't mandatory , but they are really engaging, helpful, and funny. He blocks out some parts of the slides that he posts , but it is the same information as the reading. I missed a few lectures and never read the textbook but did just fine. The midterm was very easy and straightforward, and the final is the same format. There is one research paper that is 5-6 pages, but you have almost the whole quarter to do so. If you are looking for a GE or a class for the poli sci major I would definitely recommend this class.
Professor Min is incredible. I looked forward to every one of his lectures and the content of the class itself is really interesting. He posts all his slides beforehand but leaves a couple small blanks in them that you fill out during lecture.
Here's how grades are weighed:
30% - weekly open note, take home quizzes that stay open from Friday to Tuesday but do have a time limit (lowest grade is dropped)
20% - section participation (my TA gave full credit for each section as long as you showed up and answered/asked at least one question)
50% - 5-6 page analysis paper (5% is guaranteed simply by submitting a proposal by the deadline, regardless of how good that proposal is)
Quizzes are very straightforward and based off the slides & lectures. Also, you are guided through the paper bit by bit with each section so it's really not that intimidating! There is also a clear rubric provided for it, so you know exactly what you need to do in order to get a good grade.
The textbook wasn't even necessary in my opinion because Professor Min covered all of the content clearly and concisely during lecture. It's great to read for some extra context though.
Overall, I would highly recommend this class. It was very manageable for me and it was my first quarter at UCLA!
There were no tests in this class, just weekly quizzes which were online and open-note (no collaboration allowed). Super easy and most of the info you could find on the slides. Lectures were pretty helpful.
The big project was this essay worth 50% of our grade on a topic we didn't learn about. That was pretty stressful but I ended up receiving a 97 on it even though I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. The prompt was "What should the United States have done differently in Afghanistan, if anything?" and relating it to class concepts, and I felt overwhelmed because I knew nothing on the topic beforehand.
Professor Min is hands down one of the most clear and engaging lecturers I have encountered at UCLA so far. The format of the class includes a final paper but NO midterm and NO final. Weekly quizzes make up the rest of your grade, but they are very doable if you just go to the lectures. They are also open note/online so you really should really be able to do well on them. I would highly recommend this class if you are interested in politics or just wanting to take a fairly simple GE. You cannot go wrong with professor Min!
The one thing to watch out is the final paper which is worth like 40% of ur grade, just make sure u do decent on that and you'll be set. The quizzes aren't difficult but you have to make sure you are familiar with that week's lecture.
Professor Min was a fantastic professor. He really knew the material and was not only able to convey it well but in a way that was extremely easy to understand! I had Julian Michel as my TA and he was also great. He was super fun and interesting to talk to and even brought in a guest speaker who was a german diplomat. Overall, a really interesting and good class and super easy too!
(PS don't worry about the textbook, it's free online and is just an auxiliary thing, but his lectures are very thorough and he gives you all the info you need)
He's a nice guy, but he is new. All his materials are taken from other professors so his slides do not corollate with his tests. What you read in the textbook, his slides, and his exams are all different. The vague wordings on his tests feels like an AP World History exam. Your TA makes or break your grade. My TA wasn't helpful at all and seemed cold at times. You have to go with your TA even if it opposes what the professor says in class. Discussions are mandatory though. He blanks out slides, but classes are not to mandatory. He does try to put in pop references to spice the class up a bit but unnecessary. The workload is low, but it affects your exams later on. Only take this class if you just need units. It is not helpful if you plan on taking upper division IR classes later on.
International relations isn't really my jam, but I absolutely loved taking this class! Professor Min is funny, clear, and engaging. His slides are extremely well-organized and he provides them to students with blanks, which makes it easy to study for exams (although you will have to study for them). I read the textbook religiously at the beginning of the year, but I found myself getting the same grades when I just studied the content from the slides so I would recommend using the textbook as more of a reference for when you get confused. The structure of this class was perfect though and I would recommend it to anyone. My one complaint would be that the discussions were pretty pointless, but that didn't bother me that much in the grand scheme of things.
I would highly recommend taking this class with this professor. The lectures aren't mandatory , but they are really engaging, helpful, and funny. He blocks out some parts of the slides that he posts , but it is the same information as the reading. I missed a few lectures and never read the textbook but did just fine. The midterm was very easy and straightforward, and the final is the same format. There is one research paper that is 5-6 pages, but you have almost the whole quarter to do so. If you are looking for a GE or a class for the poli sci major I would definitely recommend this class.