By far the most memorable class I have ever taken at UCLA. The Professor Anderson is pretty old and doesn't teach often so take this class if you can it is by far the most interesting Poli Sci class I have ever been in. Your entire grade is based on a single essay that your write throughout the term and turn in at the end of the quarter; the TA in Winter '26 was enormously helpful with writing the essay, I imagine that will be the case again but even if it isn't the class is not very difficult, incredibly interesting and unique, and the lectures are very memorable, albeit for the wrong reasons.

I'll be forward and say Professor Anderson is one of the greatest professor I've taken here at UCLA. He's part time and only teaches every so often, so take his courses when he teaches! The material was cool, but the lectures made it more engaging. He has a great way of lecturing that makes it easy to follow along, even though he is on the older side. He also has a lot of cool stories, having worked in a wide array of fields in the past. The class itself had only one paper that counted for all your grade that you should begin working no later than week 7. You need to use only in course sources, which are around twenty readings total. Readings aren't hard whatsoever, most are short and interesting reads. Once the fires happened, he made attendance optional by putting his lectures up on Bruincast. I'd still go in person since sometimes the mic cuts off and the likes.

This class is graded entirely on one 3000 word essay due at the end of finals week. Prof posts slides and lecture recordings. 2 hour long lectures 2x week

This class is one of the most boring lectures I have ever sat in. Anderson is knowledgeable and constantly discusses his background with Russia/Ukraine but his lecture is just SO boring! Your whole grade is two essays - and his requirements for citations and references are insane. Students have been reported for plagiarism after using quotation marks...
He is also very clear that he has a bias and is pro-Ukraine which I think the majority of the institution is but his approach makes this class not very educational. The course is basically a 10-week-long Vladimir Putin diss and while it is easy to compute I just have a hard time tolerating Professors like that. Anderson makes bold claims like calling for US troops to fight for Ukraine and just overall seems out of touch with what is going on politically due to his bias. I think it might be time to throw in the hat and retire...

Selling 3rd EDITION of "World Politics" by Friedman/Lake/Schultz.
It's a required text for POL SCI 20. Great condition.
Contact for details **********

This class is really interesting and generally easy. I hardly read the book with the exception of the definitions outlined in the margins and did well on both the midterms and the final. You will write two papers for this class. The first one, where we picked a book out of YRL, read it, and wrote a report on it which addressed many of the topics discussed in class. I did well on this paper because I sort of planned it out as I was reading. The most daunting part of it, actually, was the 2500 word minimum requirement. The second paper was a lot more difficult because the prompt was so broad and unclear that I--and many other students, from what I could tell from the massive amounts of email that Anderson sent out--struggled to even start the paper, let alone fill up 8 pages. Professor Anderson is good at presenting sides of an argument that you may not have considered in order to force you to think. His exams are very fair, testing mainly broad concepts, but the wording tends to be the hard part. If you can access past exams somehow, do so!

This class isn't the most difficult class; in fact, one could say it was easy.
I think the most difficult thing for this class is being able to shoot for the A rather than the A- ; in his class, it's a very thin line.
I didn't go to class because after about the 3rd lecture, I realized that he was going to read off his powerpoint slides, and just that. In a sense, it makes things easier, because you don't have to try to pick up every word he's trying to say, but at the same time, it makes his lectures extremely dry. If you are one of those students that like to deal with cold hard facts, and not the conversational gibberish that you WON'T be tested on, then it's going to be hard to stay awake in this class (seriously!). You could just study the powerpoint slides on your own time.

The goal of this class is being able to define and recognize various points of view (constructive, liberal, identity) and understand the levels of analysis. So, the midterm, the final and the papers-- that's what it's all about.
I'd love to give you some pointers on the midterm, but due to a computer failure, Prof. Anderson made the midterm the morning of. So it is probably different from what you'll be taking. Other than that, he's friendly and replies to e-mails fairly quickly. Good luck!

I took poli sci 20 with Anderson and I am a pre-med who ended up getting an A on the midterm and the first paper. We haven't found out about the second paper or the final yet, but the final wasn't too bad. I never read the textbook that he gave us and still scored second highest in the class on his first midterm. Just pay attention to his lecture slides and understand the ideas he is trying to convey and you will do fine.

TAKE A CLASS WITH THIS PROFESSOR. He could probably beat out the most interesting man in the world for his title. I took him for two upper divs, and I loved his classes. The material is really interesting; he makes you think in ways that other professors can't (or don't care enough to). There is no midterm, and the final is a 20 page paper. Honestly I was really scared by that too, but as long as you have a pulse and go to class there's no way you won't pick up his argument along the way. Once you get the point down the rest of the paper isn't too time-consuming. Do the readings and speak up in class when you can cause it'll be to your benefit. He tells you exactly what he wants and expects from you, so listen when he talks! You won't regret it

contrary to what most people say about him, professor anderson is probably my favorite teacher at UCLA so far. He is EXTREMELY fair. fair to the point where he allowed us to turn in our final papers late because he never actually made a late policy in his syllubus. Definitely an easy A, especially if you're familiar with poly sci. He is a very adorable old man with a funny laugh and has some interesting stories from his CIA days. The final and midterm were short multiple choice tests that didnt take more than 20 or 30 minutes. The only thing that was annoying was the long essays (2500 words) which I actually didnt completely reach with either but still got an A. no discussion eiether which i thaught was cool. Dont read and you dont necessarily have to go to class either. just make sure you read his slides and you're fine.