I took this class in winter 2019. I was looking for an opportunity to learn about international relations of China. And this class gave me exactly what I wanted.

Throughout this course, you can learn about China's diplomatic stances towards its neighboring states, Africa, Europe, and the US. Some of them are brief information from which you can get generic ideas how China approaches other regions, and some others will require you more insights into their relations.

Lectures are well-organized. Like mathematics, you will learn from the basic to more difficult topics. You will also need to participate in class discussions. I know it is kinda difficult to talk how you think about certain topics in front of your classmates. But you don't have to give a presentation or something difficult. Professor Lee asks some questions, and you just need to answer the questions or give some your thoughts. As time goes by, you will feel like it becomes easier to engage in the class since everyone participates in. You will have plenty of opportunities to engage in class discussions. Professor knows how to carry out her lectures and will balance students' participation so that everyone can have fair chances. (btw, she will remember your name once you engage in class discussions. Literally she memorized almost 150 students' names by mid-term)

There were reading assignments. But, they were not heavy stuff as long as you do your weekly reading. The reading materials were super clear. If you have any question or issue with the reading assignments, you can ask professor. She will give you helpful advices.

Also, there would be mid-term and final exams. Before covid, my mid-term and final exams were in class essay format. (for the other class I took during the covid pandemic in 2020, both exams were take-home essays)
The exams were straightforward, and if you study the course materials and things professor discussed in class, you can write a decent essay.

If you are poli-sci major with IR concentration, I strongly recommend this class. I don't think I need to explain how important Asia and China are in IR. If you take this class, you'll definitely learn enough about China and its relations with other states. This class is not an easy A I'd say, but it is a reasonable class. Attend lectures, participate in class discussions, and study what you learned from the lectures, then you will see a good grade on your transcript.

I hope she elaborated more on her grading method. The participation part was 10 percent of the total grade, but I had no idea how she graded those. I did ask her a few questions during lectures and visited her office hours, but somehow she gave me only 30 percent. Got an A- in the end despite acing the exams, because of the unclearness of her participation grading. Only a small group of students were the main ones talking during the lectures, probably who knew how the participation grade worked. Honestly, couldn't even hear what students were talking if you were sitting far from them.

Wished she was more flexible with the Exam format (blue book 3 page minimum). The final exam gave me so much stress as she made no exception on changing the final exam format despite COVID 19 pandemic. It was a nightmare preparing this exam.

She was a great lecturer, great person tho. Just some flexibility and clarity on grading would have been much better. Very knowledgable, interesting insights on the course topic.

This class was extremely interesting as somebody who had very little information about the politics of South-East Asia. The readings were very interesting and if they're ever confusing no need to worry, they're gone over extensively in class. To do well on the in-class essay exams simply do the readings as they're assigned and pay attention in class as the professor emphasizes the most important information. The professor is very thorough and willing to help those who have questions. This has been one of my favorite classes and I highly recommend it.

Professor Lee made sure the lectures are informative and engaging. The midterms and finals are doable if you study for them. This class required in-class participation, which sounded scary at first. But it ended up bringing the lecture lots of new perspectives. Would 10/10 recommend this class.

Bellette is such an engaging professor. She takes the time to teach you the material and engage you in an actual discussion. I was initially nervous about the participation component of this grade but Bellette makes everyone feel welcome. The course had a group project component that was annoying at times because of the collective action problems, but she made it clear that if anyone was having difficulties with their group they could speak to her in confidence and it was really nice to have a professor that willing to listen to our concerns and work with us to make us have as good of an experience as possible in her class. Take this class!