For the IDS senior capstone, I was a bit let down.
It's not hard, you'll choose a week to present on the readings, and then lead class discussion. There isn't a penalty for participants to not do the readings & the class is fairly disorganized, so it can be kind of painful to get through 3 hours this way. Then there's a pretty hefty research paper requirement at the end, the subject of which is very open-ended. Overall wish this class had more structure and I ultimately felt like it was a bit of a waste of time. If you want to learn something new, take a different prof.
Apter himself is an interesting person, I wish he had tied some more of his own research/insight into engaging lectures to help us build skills to go out in the world as development scholars. Instead he would sometimes give a lecture, sometimes join discussions if no one else would. Much more engaging in OH.

I'm sorry but this class is so sad. After 3 years in the IDS major, I was really looking forward to taking the final senior seminar. Because you need to have completed all the other IDS core classes, you don't have much choice as to which quarter to take this class. If you can, do NOT take 191 with Apter. I fell asleep so many times. He fell asleep during my final presentation. He reads from the books we all already read from homework, making class a waste of time. But participation is 50% of your grade, so you still have to go... The rubric was super vague. 50% participation, 50% final exam (which he had no guidelines for, essay or presentation or mulitmedia).

Go take this class with a more interesting professor. If you must take it with Apter, good luck. I've heard he's nice and actually knowledgeable in office hours.