Overall, this class was okay for a GE. My TA was a super harsh grader, but I managed to get As on both short papers (some of my classmates were not so lucky and ended up getting Cs). Professor Ying clearly cares a lot about her students, so your experience depends a lot on your TA. There is also no midterm which is nice, but it makes the final a little more high-pressure because it’s worth 40% of your grade.

Professor Ying is great and I would definitely recommend taking this class with her. Her lectures can sometimes get a bit repetitive as she just reads of the slides, but she usually summarizes the main points that you will need to know for the class. The midterm and final are papers, and the final had a vocabulary test on key concepts from the class.

The class was fairly interesting, especially fi you are interested in international relations. The lectures were mainly just the professor reading off the slides, which isn't necessarily a bad thing since you can just skip a class and be okay by reviewing the slides. The professor was very kind and reasonable when it came to deadlines and assignments. The exams are not too difficult if you're able to grasp the main concepts of the lectures and some vocabulary.