Professor
Anthony Pagden
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Most Helpful Review
He is a extremely nice professor and seems like he really cares. This quarter the class met twice a week scheduled for 2 hours however he only keeps us for the first 50 minutes and the rest of the time is to ask questions if you need to. he has changed his style and it's not papers anymore but an in class midterm and final. he has slides which he puts his quotes on and he lectures for 50 minutes on the readings. The test was 5 passages (all quotes he went over in lecture and thats all you have to memorize are the quotes from lecture) we had to identify the writer and the name of the work and write a coherent paragraph or two about the passage and its relevance. He is a very nice and all around great professor i would recommend him to a friend for sure. Theres technically quite a bit of reading, however i didnt read the majority but paid attention and recorded his lectures and got an A on the midterm with a few hours of review.
He is a extremely nice professor and seems like he really cares. This quarter the class met twice a week scheduled for 2 hours however he only keeps us for the first 50 minutes and the rest of the time is to ask questions if you need to. he has changed his style and it's not papers anymore but an in class midterm and final. he has slides which he puts his quotes on and he lectures for 50 minutes on the readings. The test was 5 passages (all quotes he went over in lecture and thats all you have to memorize are the quotes from lecture) we had to identify the writer and the name of the work and write a coherent paragraph or two about the passage and its relevance. He is a very nice and all around great professor i would recommend him to a friend for sure. Theres technically quite a bit of reading, however i didnt read the majority but paid attention and recorded his lectures and got an A on the midterm with a few hours of review.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - This class content was interesting but much more philosophical than I anticipated. I was originally very excited about this class but I was picturing a more historical approach and not straight up philosophy and papers evaluating different philosophical arguments. I would not recommend this class because the content and professor were boring, however it could be more interesting for someone who is very interested in philosophy. I also would not recommend TA Jing. He had rigid rules for participation that were more extreme than any other discussion I’ve been in, and was often rude to participating students in class. You were required to participate at least once every section but it wasn’t guaranteed that raising your hand and saying something would count because it had to be an original analysis and not just any participation.
Spring 2025 - This class content was interesting but much more philosophical than I anticipated. I was originally very excited about this class but I was picturing a more historical approach and not straight up philosophy and papers evaluating different philosophical arguments. I would not recommend this class because the content and professor were boring, however it could be more interesting for someone who is very interested in philosophy. I also would not recommend TA Jing. He had rigid rules for participation that were more extreme than any other discussion I’ve been in, and was often rude to participating students in class. You were required to participate at least once every section but it wasn’t guaranteed that raising your hand and saying something would count because it had to be an original analysis and not just any participation.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2026 - This class was a lot of political theory, less on international relations. We covered a lot of interesting thinkers from Hobbes to Grotius etc. I would not consider myself an expert on political theory, but the content was definitely interesting. Lectures were a lot of information and loooong excerpts from texts thrown at you, but they are also uploaded on the canvas. You are graded on participation in section (asking questions about other peoples' presentations, contributing to discussion), delivering a group presentation in section based on the readings, midterm, and final. The presentation was not bad at all- do the reading, collaborate with your group to each pick an interesting excerpt and give commentary on it. The midterm and final were both open note in-class timed essay prompts. You are given an author, the work, and an excerpt and you have to comment on it while drawing info from the class and historical context. Totally not bad, just make sure to study and really be familiar with the important terms in lecture. TAs are super helpful and overall this class was interesting and not too hard
Winter 2026 - This class was a lot of political theory, less on international relations. We covered a lot of interesting thinkers from Hobbes to Grotius etc. I would not consider myself an expert on political theory, but the content was definitely interesting. Lectures were a lot of information and loooong excerpts from texts thrown at you, but they are also uploaded on the canvas. You are graded on participation in section (asking questions about other peoples' presentations, contributing to discussion), delivering a group presentation in section based on the readings, midterm, and final. The presentation was not bad at all- do the reading, collaborate with your group to each pick an interesting excerpt and give commentary on it. The midterm and final were both open note in-class timed essay prompts. You are given an author, the work, and an excerpt and you have to comment on it while drawing info from the class and historical context. Totally not bad, just make sure to study and really be familiar with the important terms in lecture. TAs are super helpful and overall this class was interesting and not too hard
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Pagden is absolutely brilliant! I had initial qualms about taking this class, and sitting through the first lecture did not really help at all because he is so smart and talks a little too fast sometimes, that it just seems like his mind is all over the place! But I'm glad that I decided to stick with this class-it was very interesting. The class is graded according to 2 papers- and he gives you several prompts for each paper topic that it's just very hard not to get an A in this class. Just pick one that suits you best! I think that one of the ngatives of this course was the reading-it was a little difficult to understand. However, Professor Pagden does go through the important points during lecture, so I would recommend going to lecture so you know what to write your paper on... he also doesn't post the lecture slides online either, so bring a laptop to class and take good notes!! But overall, wonderful professor. Now that I graduated from UCLA with a polisci degree, I can look back and say that he is one of the most knowledgeble and best professors I had here in my four years.
Professor Pagden is absolutely brilliant! I had initial qualms about taking this class, and sitting through the first lecture did not really help at all because he is so smart and talks a little too fast sometimes, that it just seems like his mind is all over the place! But I'm glad that I decided to stick with this class-it was very interesting. The class is graded according to 2 papers- and he gives you several prompts for each paper topic that it's just very hard not to get an A in this class. Just pick one that suits you best! I think that one of the ngatives of this course was the reading-it was a little difficult to understand. However, Professor Pagden does go through the important points during lecture, so I would recommend going to lecture so you know what to write your paper on... he also doesn't post the lecture slides online either, so bring a laptop to class and take good notes!! But overall, wonderful professor. Now that I graduated from UCLA with a polisci degree, I can look back and say that he is one of the most knowledgeble and best professors I had here in my four years.
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