Im not sure why people complain about her class if it was not bad at all! I passed with an A by visiting the TA's office hours and honestly it's a ton of reading.... A lot of memorization but an A can be obtained. Just read and take notes and memorize EVERYTHING. I like her style and I do agree she resembled Machiavelli but she was not bad at all.

Professor Sissa has a passion in her voice when she teaches that many professors don't have. She has surprised quizzes that are worth 20% of your grade but she only gave 3 all quarter. So everyone came to class every time just in case she decided to have a quiz. She started giving pop quizzes during week 7. Her final and midterm are the same layout and very simple. She gives you 5 quizzes and you analyze it and state historical content.If you read and remember, you'll get an A. Yes, there's a lot of reading but it's manageable. I would consider this an easy A if you read and pay attention.

I am going to start by saying I got an A- in her class. She is not that good of a teacher. There is only a final and a midterm plus 15% for discussion for your grade.
The format of the test has changed and it includes multiple choice now with as many as 4 or no right answers per question and she takes off points for circling any wrong choices. Her class average was a C- this quarter in my class. After everyone writing her emails this was a response from her email that I am quoting:
" I do respect THE TEXTS, as Machiavelli did, when he used to dress up in order visit his best friends : Plato, Aristotle and their likes."
She basically compares herself to Machiavelli and that is just disgusting for a professor at UCLA to do. She basically put the blame on students for getting a C- average and put herself up with greats like Machiavelli, Plato, and Aristotle. She has an amazingly gigantic ego.
Her lectures are in a very low level as if we are all mentally challenged and her tests are a high level as if she is testing Plato himself. (exaggeration obviously!) And BTW I am a third year Political Science major so I love the material but not the way she teaches them.
The most important thing is that you have a good TA who I had and if you get a bad one expect a failing grade in the class.
Good luck

I completely understand where other reviewers are coming from because at first, I had a bit of a hard time (1 or 2 classes). She's a really knowledgeable professor - she gives you everything in her lectures to arm you for the papers you need to write. The caveat is - you really need to go to her lectures. Her lectures are dense - laptop for note-taking highly recommended. I don't know for a fact, but I suspect Professor Sissa is pretty highly regarded in her field - I was pretty impressed with her. I learned to really appreciate her style and am doing an independent study with her as adviser next term.