POL SCI 113A
Problems in 20th-Century and Contemporary Political Theory
Description: Lecture, three or four hours; discussion, one hour (when scheduled). Designed for juniors/seniors. Study and interpretation of theorists who have focused their analyses on social and political problems of 20th century. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Dienstag is a very intelligent person with a lot of valuable insight to offer. My class was small and discussion based so I did not get to witness his ability to lecture and teach very much. However, he gave great insight to the works we were examining. I only wish he was more approachable in his demeanor with students and presenting a more open, comfortable environment when discussing to help students feel more empowered to speak. At times, it did not seem like he respected our ideas. But otherwise, he is an excellent Professor and worth taking particularly if you are interested in theory.
Professor Dienstag is a very intelligent person with a lot of valuable insight to offer. My class was small and discussion based so I did not get to witness his ability to lecture and teach very much. However, he gave great insight to the works we were examining. I only wish he was more approachable in his demeanor with students and presenting a more open, comfortable environment when discussing to help students feel more empowered to speak. At times, it did not seem like he respected our ideas. But otherwise, he is an excellent Professor and worth taking particularly if you are interested in theory.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - Professor Parasher is genuinely one of the BEST professors I have taken at UCLA. He deserves the best possible praise and I can't recommend him enough. I would take another class with him in a heartbeat. His lectures are so engaging, often funny, and very clear. You can go to class without having fully understood the reading and you will understand so much more from lecture. He also loves and encourages student participation in lectures, and asks open-ended questions at multiple points in his lectures. On top of that, Professor Parasher cares deeply about his students and is extremely kind. He stays after every single lecture to answer the line of student's questions and will never leave until everyone's questions are answered. He heavily encourages students to come to office hours on a weekly basis, and is very flexible with scheduling office hours. Even when his office hours sign-up did not align with my schedule or filled up, he was very open to rescheduling office hours, and even meeting with me twice a week to discuss the week's readings. Discussing readings in office hours with Professor Parasher is illuminating; he is extremely smart and articulates himself very clearly that I would walk out of office hours every week with a much stronger grasp on the thinkers' arguments. I highly recommend going to office hours on a regular basis and conversing with him! Totally changed my experience in the class and made me look forward to coming to every lecture. This class was also super interesting. I came into the class thinking I wouldn't really care much for the material, since it's more contemporary and I don't know much about contemporary theory, but all of the thinkers chosen are very interesting. This class covers Weber, Luxemberg, Gandhi, Schmitt, Arendt, Hayek, Fanon and Berlin. There are two essays each about 1,000 words, and your grade is more dependent on your TA because the TAs vary in grading rubrics. My TA Tomi was great, I think just a tad strict on the grading, but overall a wonderful TA . He made discussion sections interesting and also encouraged student participation. Anyways, I overall can't recommend Prof. Parasher enough!! He is a wonderful example of how professors should teach and I'm surprised he doesn't have higher reviews. Wish I could take him every quarter!
Spring 2025 - Professor Parasher is genuinely one of the BEST professors I have taken at UCLA. He deserves the best possible praise and I can't recommend him enough. I would take another class with him in a heartbeat. His lectures are so engaging, often funny, and very clear. You can go to class without having fully understood the reading and you will understand so much more from lecture. He also loves and encourages student participation in lectures, and asks open-ended questions at multiple points in his lectures. On top of that, Professor Parasher cares deeply about his students and is extremely kind. He stays after every single lecture to answer the line of student's questions and will never leave until everyone's questions are answered. He heavily encourages students to come to office hours on a weekly basis, and is very flexible with scheduling office hours. Even when his office hours sign-up did not align with my schedule or filled up, he was very open to rescheduling office hours, and even meeting with me twice a week to discuss the week's readings. Discussing readings in office hours with Professor Parasher is illuminating; he is extremely smart and articulates himself very clearly that I would walk out of office hours every week with a much stronger grasp on the thinkers' arguments. I highly recommend going to office hours on a regular basis and conversing with him! Totally changed my experience in the class and made me look forward to coming to every lecture. This class was also super interesting. I came into the class thinking I wouldn't really care much for the material, since it's more contemporary and I don't know much about contemporary theory, but all of the thinkers chosen are very interesting. This class covers Weber, Luxemberg, Gandhi, Schmitt, Arendt, Hayek, Fanon and Berlin. There are two essays each about 1,000 words, and your grade is more dependent on your TA because the TAs vary in grading rubrics. My TA Tomi was great, I think just a tad strict on the grading, but overall a wonderful TA . He made discussion sections interesting and also encouraged student participation. Anyways, I overall can't recommend Prof. Parasher enough!! He is a wonderful example of how professors should teach and I'm surprised he doesn't have higher reviews. Wish I could take him every quarter!
Most Helpful Review
Professor Rocco has a very structured lecture routine-ppt. slides that are setup purposively, something he doesn't stray far from. In lecture it is largely one sided communication, with inquiry limited to his limited office hours. He is very knowledgable about the material, which is really interesting on its own (Marcuse, Freire and Gramsci), and he gives a good explanation of their respective theories in layman terms. The reading isn't absolutely required for the class since he gives all the material he requires on the final in lecture, but it does help a lot (especially with Gramsci). This class is helpful for theory/philosophy of institutional power, political organizing, critical pedagogy, etc. I would suggest this class for someone already interested in the subject, maybe not for someone who is bedazzled by the title and thinks it a glamour course: the final essays are not glamorous. But I would suggest opting in for the weekly page responses, comprising up to 25% of your grade. It takes a lot of pressure of your otherwise sole determinator of your grade-the final. I also took Rocco for PS10, and I would suggest taking him for upperdiv rather than the lower- he cares more.
Professor Rocco has a very structured lecture routine-ppt. slides that are setup purposively, something he doesn't stray far from. In lecture it is largely one sided communication, with inquiry limited to his limited office hours. He is very knowledgable about the material, which is really interesting on its own (Marcuse, Freire and Gramsci), and he gives a good explanation of their respective theories in layman terms. The reading isn't absolutely required for the class since he gives all the material he requires on the final in lecture, but it does help a lot (especially with Gramsci). This class is helpful for theory/philosophy of institutional power, political organizing, critical pedagogy, etc. I would suggest this class for someone already interested in the subject, maybe not for someone who is bedazzled by the title and thinks it a glamour course: the final essays are not glamorous. But I would suggest opting in for the weekly page responses, comprising up to 25% of your grade. It takes a lot of pressure of your otherwise sole determinator of your grade-the final. I also took Rocco for PS10, and I would suggest taking him for upperdiv rather than the lower- he cares more.
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