I 100% cannot agree more with the other commenter for Fall 2024. This class was graded unnecessarily hard and was subject to unfairness and unreasonableness by the TAs. I would caution against taking this class. I too know many who fell victim this quarter to the horridness of this class

Anyone interested in learning about Russia/other countries' political culture and process should absolutely take this class. Treisman is a wonderful professor; he is extremely passionate about Russia and lectures were always engaging. The reading was pretty average for an upper division political science class (50-100/week), but I found most of them to be pretty interesting. Overall would definitely recommend his class.

Professor Treisman is a wonderful professor. Each lecture was very clear and engaging as the curriculum was highly interesting and relevant. The class consists of two take-home essays that are graded very fairly and as long as you write good notes and do the readings, you'' do great! Highly recommend this class if offered.

I absolutely loved this class. Professor Treisman is an incredible lecturer, and his book, "The Return," alongside his other publications that he issues for weekly readings, are incredibly interesting. I learned more about Russia than I could have veer imagined, and this class certainly expanded my knowledge about Russian history. I had A.P. Turek as my TA, and he was great. He does talk a bit fast, but he is incredibly knowledgable and his sections often involve lots of participation and group work which can help you hone in the main ideas of lecture.
I will note however, this class was fairly difficult. While I received an A in this course, it was not by a very comfortable margin; and that comes from a student who did every single page of the reading, showed up to lecture, and showed up to office hours. The class is 30% midterm and 40% final. The readings are incredibly interesting, but can sometimes pile up since some can be quite long. I found that all readings were incredibly necessary, as sometimes prompts required to draw on different weeks, readings, and lectures. Additionally, I found that the papers were graded more meticulously than other political science courses.
However, A.P. Turek not only provided thorough and extensive feedback on my midterm, but was also open to all my questions and concerns during office hours. With this, I was able to improve on my final paper which enabled me to achieve the grade I got. I will note, I was a little shook (actually quite frustrated) by the grading mishap which many other students from this quarter might be writing about. However, it was ultimately resolved.
My advice if you take this course: Show up to lecture and section, do every reading, attend office hours if you ever have a question, stick to source material from the class, and make sure you provide comprehensive coverage on whatever prompt is on the midterm and final. Spend time on your papers... plan it out, draft it, and make sure every sentence is relevant; avoid scene setting. If you do this, you will likely get an A.

So the professor is amazing. Treisman has engaging lectures and is very knowledgeable on Russia. However, like others have mentioned, 100% of your grade is determined by the TAs.

The biggest gripe by far is the participation/discussion grade. It's worth 30% of your grade and is capped at 28/30. Not a single person got above a 28. This was very frustrating given that the TA literally emailed me saying quote "you are on track to earn full marks for discussion." I still got an A in the course, but with a 93.6%. Definitely not a comfortable margin so I can see how it could make a world of a difference for others.

This wasn't the case in previous quarters according to my friends so I wouldn't guarantee that this will continue to happen. Especially, with all of these reviews mentioning it. But it is certainly something to keep in mind before enrolling.

Professor Treisman was a great professor and expressed a lot of knowledge about Russian politics. He gave a lot of personal insight as he has studied Russia for a long time. He also cares about the students as he frequently stopped in his lecture for questions. His lectures were also very structured as well.
Unfortunately though, what the grade in this class comes down to is the TAs. Papers were graded super hard and the TA I had for this quarter, Turek, nitpicked every little thing in essays. Even if you had all the right information he would still say something you said was wrong. He also went against the guidelines of the professor, as Treisman is his midterm and final instruction that papers should be no longer than 5 pages and should only require sources from the class. On the midterm I used some outside sources but it still wasn’t enough for Turek. He also said to “not cite the lectures” even though the professor literally told us to. The 5 page limit also made it hard as reasoning was required for everything which proved difficult to fit in a five page paper. The TAs also capped participation at 28/30 for everyone with no explanation as to why. I honestly think I would have enjoyed this class more if I had a better TA.

Great professor, horrible TAs. The entire class grade was up to the discretion of the TAs, who would often grade unfairly, harshly, and with little to no explanations. Even attending office hours for the TAs was met with unhelpful criticisms that did not match the grade given and the TA claiming it was against course policy to reconsider grades even though regrades are allowed in many other classes. For no reason, the TA lowered the participation grades for the whole class, dropping many people down a whole letter grade. Would not recommend this class unless you know the TA or if it is graded by the professor in the future.

This class was just okay and the professor seems passionate with his lectures. This class has discussions and the grading is based off two take home papers and participation points. The TAs in this class was not ideal and was very tough with the grading. I would suggest to take this class with caution because this may make or break your grades.

If you're looking for an easy and interesting class, TAKE THIS CLASS. The course dives into Russia’s politics after communism, and Professor Treisman explains everything clearly and makes it easy to understand. The best part? He offers extra credit even on the tests and drops the lowest quiz scores. This course is stress-free and will boost your grade. Treisman is super supportive and makes lectures engaging and fun.

Seriously, if you want an easy A, this is the class to take. Trust that this course is a great choice!

Great class!! The professor is extremely professional, and very clear. I never doubted his instructions. He had a clear path with his lectures, and I learned a ton of valuable information. There is a bit of reading involved, but his book that is assigned is very interesting. I enjoyed it a lot!! Two papers and participation make up the grade, and my TA was extremely helpful and supportive.