Professor Treisman is the real deal-- Harvard, Oxford, civilian economic advisor to the Russian government... and it shows. He's incredibly knowledgeable and is palpably very, very intelligent. He's an excellent, very clear lecturer, and is extremely organized. The class is very interesting. It's also one of the more difficult classes I've taken. I got an A on both papers, but the topical variety of the class was extremely broad, and the readings he assigned were often lengthy and difficult. Writing a successful paper was contingent on taking notes/citing the lectures (I assume this would be very difficult to do in-person where you can't rewatch lecture) and having a thorough understanding of most, if not all, of the readings (unlike some classes where you can get away with analyzing/reading just a few selected texts). My TA ended up giving me a low A minus section grade which resulted in me not receiving an A overall in the class, so I would recommend really making sure to speak a lot in section-- which is, again, predicated on you doing the readings, which are very time consuming.

Overall, I'd say this class is worthwhile, mainly because the topics are interesting and Treisman is a renowned political scientist and seems to actually care about what he's teaching (a rarity in UCLA's political science dept), but you should take it with the understanding that while the class is fair and the content is clear, it is still difficult and demands a lot of reading time (took me roughly 4-5 hours a week) and effort put into the two papers.

This is a difficult class. Triesman is great— very professional and clear, but there is a ton of reading, nearly all of which is applicable/ can be used on the papers (midterm and final, 30-40% of grade, 6 pages each), which makes taking tons of notes a must. Grading was harsh, my TA was fine at facilitating discussion but not lenient or particularly helpful, and based on his demeanor I assume triesman wouldn’t be super lenient either (he’s not a jerk, just seems very traditional/professional). Content is fairly interesting but there is a lot of it. Take this class if you want a class that’s worth your while but just know it’s hard (in terms of content, assigned reading, and grading). Don’t know why one review here claims to have gotten an A+ when triesman does not give A pluses…

I really enjoyed taking this class. Professor Treisman is one of the best lecturers I've had the pleasure of interacting with at UCLA. He's supremely engaging and he always pauses to allow students to ask questions during the lectures. He's also very helpful if you take the time to go to office hours.

There's a fair bit of readings for the class, with their overall volume being over the average for poli sci upper divisions in my experience. However, the readings are pretty interesting, and I never found myself totally bogged down.

The class consists of a midterm and final (5 pg each), along with mandatory section participation. The sections went by fine, and there were frequently some interesting discussions. I found that the exams were graded quite fairly, even though the topics require a lot of thought and attention to sufficiently answer.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this course and I think it's fairly straightforward to succeed in, as long as you do the assigned readings and pay attention to lecture.

Prof Treisman, avoid this heartless professor at all costs. The man has no empathy for no student, and will not round a grade no matter what. I finished with an 89.6% and he refused to round my grade up despite the personal COVID-19 battle I was facing (member of my household diagnosed) he simply refused to help me or be understanding. He and his TA Julian were both unbothered by the real life situation students find themselves in. Not to mention, I was given the same grade on both papers, which I was given no explanation on. If I can even convince one student to take another class, this review was worth it.