I absolutely loved this class. The professor is a fantastic lecturer and the units were super interesting (at least for someone who loves political science). His slides are very clear and so are his explanations. I went to class every time and took diligent notes. He posts the recording and slides! I had an online quiz every week. If you actually understand the topic, the quizzes will be fine. I usually got a 13-15/15. I never once read the textbook. We had one big paper that was worth 50% of our grade. I worked very, very hard on it and got a 90%. I think an A in this class is very feasible if you put in the work.

Professor Min is hands down one of the most clear and engaging lecturers I have encountered at UCLA so far. The format of the class includes a final paper but NO midterm and NO final. Weekly quizzes make up the rest of your grade, but they are very doable if you just go to the lectures. They are also open note/online so you really should really be able to do well on them. I would highly recommend this class if you are interested in politics or just wanting to take a fairly simple GE. You cannot go wrong with professor Min!

There were no tests in this class, just weekly quizzes which were online and open-note (no collaboration allowed). Super easy and most of the info you could find on the slides. Lectures were pretty helpful.

The big project was this essay worth 50% of our grade on a topic we didn't learn about. That was pretty stressful but I ended up receiving a 97 on it even though I felt like I didn't know what I was doing. The prompt was "What should the United States have done differently in Afghanistan, if anything?" and relating it to class concepts, and I felt overwhelmed because I knew nothing on the topic beforehand.

Professor Min is incredible. I looked forward to every one of his lectures and the content of the class itself is really interesting. He posts all his slides beforehand but leaves a couple small blanks in them that you fill out during lecture.

Here's how grades are weighed:
30% - weekly open note, take home quizzes that stay open from Friday to Tuesday but do have a time limit (lowest grade is dropped)
20% - section participation (my TA gave full credit for each section as long as you showed up and answered/asked at least one question)
50% - 5-6 page analysis paper (5% is guaranteed simply by submitting a proposal by the deadline, regardless of how good that proposal is)

Quizzes are very straightforward and based off the slides & lectures. Also, you are guided through the paper bit by bit with each section so it's really not that intimidating! There is also a clear rubric provided for it, so you know exactly what you need to do in order to get a good grade.

The textbook wasn't even necessary in my opinion because Professor Min covered all of the content clearly and concisely during lecture. It's great to read for some extra context though.

Overall, I would highly recommend this class. It was very manageable for me and it was my first quarter at UCLA!

amazing and super easy class!! the quizzes are easy and straightforward as long as you take good lecture notes. his lectures were super interesting. would 100% take another class with him

This will be one of the most organized classes you will take at UCLA. His lectures and slides are extremely clear, and funny, and he makes them interesting by using current-day examples and anecdotes. We had one quiz to do every week but they were pretty easy and it was just based on the slides. We had about 40-50 pages of reading every week but stopped doing them in Week 6 and I was perfectly fine. The readings just work to refresh your memory and provide more examples. The analysis paper was based on a very broad topic - the war with Afghanistan- and we were limited to 5-6 pages which imo is not enough at all; this topic is something you could write a book about. Regardless, the class was the best class I took this quarter and I am so sad to let it go :((

The one thing to watch out is the final paper which is worth like 40% of ur grade, just make sure u do decent on that and you'll be set. The quizzes aren't difficult but you have to make sure you are familiar with that week's lecture.

This was my favorite class this quarter, and undoubtedly a great introduction to the political science major as a freshman. Professor Min is all you want in a professor-- organized, kind, funny, caring. The workload was extremely light, just one quiz a week (open note). I was apprehensive at first about skipping the readings but I'm so glad I did, his slides are all you need. Plus, if you're ever feeling iffy about a quiz question, the textbook is free online for reference. The only difficult thing about this class was the paper worth 50% of your grade. Based on past reviews, it seems to always be about a current event that you have to apply class concepts to. This year's was about the Afghanistan conflict, which obviously required a large amount of research and time. My TA didn't give much feedback throughout the process either. I got an A on it though, so just make sure you spend enough time on it and start early (you get a lot of time to do it). I found it very gratifying in the end as I walked away with new knowledge and understanding on such an important topic. Overall, I'd highly recommend this class to anyone.

I LOVED this class and recommended it to literally all of my friends (even non-polsci majors). Prof Min is a great lecturer and I was always very engaged. He posts the slides and also posts recordings of his lectures so it's super easy to catch up if you can't make it to class (but I would recommend going). There are weekly open note quizzes that can occasionally be challenging but are totally doable if you have good notes. There was no midterm and the final is a 5-6 pg analysis paper on a current event that Prof Min changes each year. The final paper was due earlier than finals week which I actually liked because it made my finals week a little less chaotic and we got grades back early.

I LOVED this class. Prof. Min is one of the reasons I decided to concentrate in International Relations in my Poli Sci Major. He makes the material super clear to understand and very interesting. I never had to read the textbook because his lectures were super comprehensive.