Professor
Julia Payson
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - I strongly recommend that you take this course! The professor is excellent, it is very easy to succeed, and a valuable foundation for further POL SCI courses. If you are looking for an easy pre-major or GE, you MUST take this course! - Quizzes (20%): Assigns two 10-question throughout the quarter. Very easy and straightforward. - Discussions (20%): Graded on attendance and bare minimum engagement. My TA Ashley Potter was very easy. - AI Project (20%): 6-8 page paper towards the end of the quarter where you assess an AI claim made about politics. She gives plenty of guidelines and your paper fills up very quickly. Took me no more than 5 hours. - Midterm Exam (15%): Take-home, open-note (1 hour exam). Just review lecture slides & assigned readings, and you will do well. - Final Exam (25%): Take-home, open-note (2 hour exam). Same advise as that for the midterm. Very straightforward.
Fall 2025 - I strongly recommend that you take this course! The professor is excellent, it is very easy to succeed, and a valuable foundation for further POL SCI courses. If you are looking for an easy pre-major or GE, you MUST take this course! - Quizzes (20%): Assigns two 10-question throughout the quarter. Very easy and straightforward. - Discussions (20%): Graded on attendance and bare minimum engagement. My TA Ashley Potter was very easy. - AI Project (20%): 6-8 page paper towards the end of the quarter where you assess an AI claim made about politics. She gives plenty of guidelines and your paper fills up very quickly. Took me no more than 5 hours. - Midterm Exam (15%): Take-home, open-note (1 hour exam). Just review lecture slides & assigned readings, and you will do well. - Final Exam (25%): Take-home, open-note (2 hour exam). Same advise as that for the midterm. Very straightforward.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - payson is the poli sci professor ALL poli sci professors should take note from. this is mainly regarding her reading guides. poli sci is a reading HEAVY major, and payson recognizes that. she literally cuts that reading time in more than half by giving us a reading guide and telling us EXACTLY what to focus on and what to skim briefly and what to skip completely. it made this class such an easy workload. the midterm was online, open note, and fairly easy. it was mc, short answer, and some "essay" qs but those were really like a paragraph or two. she reviews exactly what she wants in those essay responses, and it should be the most straightforward response, no fluff at all. the best part was that she rotated grading the responses through herself and all the TAs, so your grade was not based on JUST your TA, but all of them combined so it was very fair. the final was also online, and payson made it easier based on the midterm. it was also open note, and you choose 5 terms and write about them and find a connection to another topic in class. it was also easy and i think fairly graded as well. lectures were super engaging and she was so personal and tried to learn everyone's name. i've never seen a prof ask the class a question, and for every person responding, she would ask their name and write it down. she would try to remember everyone (it was like 100+ people) in lecture and she made it so straightforward and easy to digest. she is def a professor every pol sci major should take.
Winter 2024 - payson is the poli sci professor ALL poli sci professors should take note from. this is mainly regarding her reading guides. poli sci is a reading HEAVY major, and payson recognizes that. she literally cuts that reading time in more than half by giving us a reading guide and telling us EXACTLY what to focus on and what to skim briefly and what to skip completely. it made this class such an easy workload. the midterm was online, open note, and fairly easy. it was mc, short answer, and some "essay" qs but those were really like a paragraph or two. she reviews exactly what she wants in those essay responses, and it should be the most straightforward response, no fluff at all. the best part was that she rotated grading the responses through herself and all the TAs, so your grade was not based on JUST your TA, but all of them combined so it was very fair. the final was also online, and payson made it easier based on the midterm. it was also open note, and you choose 5 terms and write about them and find a connection to another topic in class. it was also easy and i think fairly graded as well. lectures were super engaging and she was so personal and tried to learn everyone's name. i've never seen a prof ask the class a question, and for every person responding, she would ask their name and write it down. she would try to remember everyone (it was like 100+ people) in lecture and she made it so straightforward and easy to digest. she is def a professor every pol sci major should take.
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