Professor Min is easily the best professor I have taken at UCLA. He was extremely clear in his lectures, which were accompanied by a slideshow, which he gave to the class with some of the terms and definitions blanked out to help us follow along. Most weeks (8 of 10) we had to do a CCLE-based quiz of about 15 questions covering the topics that we covered in class, with the quiz comprising 30% of our grade. There was no final, rather we had to submit a six-page essay on an important foreign policy issue, in Fall 2021 the essay examined where the US went wrong in Afghanistan. This essay was broken into a proposal due week 3 (5% of grade), a draft due week 8, and the actual essay (45% of grade) due on the Monday of week 9, which meant that there we had nothing to do during Finals week for this class. Participation in discussion sections counted for 20% of the grade. I had Merabi as my TA and he was very knowledgable on all of the subjects and very open to helping out if I had any questions or problems. Overall, if I could take this course again, I would not hesitate to and I would recommend taking it as a GE credit as you do not need to understand any complexities of political science that Professor Min does not cover.

I received an A+ in this class. I am selling my 130 pages typed-up notes for this class (all lectures + discussions) for only $15. They can be shared right away. Email me at lanasamii19@gmail.com if interested.

Professor Min is one of if not the best professor that I have had during my time at UCLA. His lectures were extremely clear. He provided detailed breakdowns for concepts and theories—allowing us to contextualise each of them with a relevant real-life application of them—and even blanked out certain key terms and sentences from the powerpoint PDF for lectures that he made available prior to classes to allow us to fill in the blanks as we went along. The concepts we learned were genuinely interesting and I’ve already found myself applying some of the topics related to bargaining and negotiation in daily life. We were assigned weekly, open-book quizzes once a week which very well-designed and easy. Discussions were enjoyable and gave us further opportunities to apply what we learned to real-life situations. The ‘final’ for this class is a 5-6 page long analysis paper on a significant world issue related to the concepts we studied. Last year, it was a paper on the Iranian nuclear issue and this year it was about the most effective ways for the U.S. to handle North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. The paper was not a cake-walk by any means, but if you have passable research skills and understood content well enough, you will do very well. I haven’t heard of anyone who got below a B+ on it. Grade breakdown: Quizzes 45%, Paper 40%, Participation in section 15%. Overall amazing G.E that I would recommend to anyone regardless of major.

---Lecture: Min is the one of the best lecturers I have had so far. He makes the lectures extremely engaging and tries his best to incorporate entertaining elements. The information is presented very clearly, and his slides are a sufficient replacement for the textbook.
---Discussion: Sections do not provide much new information, but they do clarify certain concepts and provide examples of situations that are useful to bring up during exams.
---Paper: Min gave an interesting topic for the paper, and I had fun researching for it. The deadlines are reasonable, and the TAs offer good advice throughout the process.
---Exams: The midterm and final were both pretty difficult, but they were reasonable. You do have to do quite well on both exams and the paper to get an A in the class.
---Tips: Min provides sufficient information through his lectures. The slides are useful but are not a stand alone. You don't need the textbook if you use the recourses Min gives.

I loved this class and I highly recommend it. Min was very clear during lecture and very helpful before and after class as well as during office hours. Reading the textbook is not necessary, as it basically just regurgitates his lecture, but it was helpful in my opinion. The assessments are multiple choice and easy enough if you study. The discussions and practice midterms and finals were also very helpful. This class gave me an appreciation for and interest in world politics and more awareness about politics in the world outside the US.

The key to an A in this class is to 1) do well on the paper 2) collect good notes/memorize the content from the posted slides and bring this knowledge to the midterm and final. You do NOT need to read the textbook in order to do well (though some may find it helpful. In my opinion, though, it was way too much reading to do [~100 pages per week] and I was fine without it).

Professor Min is a great lecturer and I will miss being in his class! I'm a poli sci major but I would recommend this class to anyone interested in learning how states interact with each other and applying theories to trends we see in the world today - super interesting stuff!

10/10 class. The only "challenging" part of the course is the final paper, but it is totally doable and the TAs are extremely helpful. 100% would recommend.

Professor Min is an amazing teacher, also the GE is pretty cake and is really interesting.

TAKE THIS CLASS. IT IS AMAZING.

Pol sci 20 with professor min was, hands down, the best class I've taken in my entire life. I thought that his lectures were engaging, hilarious, and very topical the to the online, open note quizzes (they were super easy as long as you take your time). Also, there's little to no work that you need to do outside of paying attention in lecture and showing up to discussion.

In my opinion, there are 4 things that you need in order to do well in this class.
1. Firstly, take great notes in lecture on everything he says
2. Take your time on the take home quizzes because some questions can be tricky (especially the first quiz that one was the hardest imo)
3. It's really important to listen in discussion because that stuff is fair game too
4. MEET WITH YOUR TA ABOUT YOUR PAPER before you submit it if you can because that's the easiest way to lose points in this class

11/10 experience would take again

A super interesting GE and a perfect introduction to the concept of world politics. Every lecture was well-organized, stimulating, and captivating. There are weekly quizzes that are completely based on lectures -- if you simply show up to lecture, you'll ace the quiz.

There is a research paper that makes up 50% of your entire grade. While this seemed daunting, the paper had a cool prompt (the Russia-Ukranian War) and was a relatively easy write. Professor Min even met with me for a 30-minute private meeting to discuss ideas I had for my paper. His feedback was extremely valuable and helped me achieve a good grade on the paper.

Overall, Professor Min is an amazing professor who truly cares about his students. If you are looking for a fun and easy GE, POL SCI 20 is it.