Professor Zeitlin can be intimidating at first, but he really cares about students learning the material and utilizing the facts to support your weekly posts. The course was really interesting, as I never knew the CIA/U.S. overthrew or got involved in so many countries post-World War II. It was something different, and Zeitlin's passion for it (the guy interviewed Fidel Castro in the '60s!) amps it up as well. As long as you do the work, he recognizes that and really respects you for it. Make sure you really know the readings so that you can answer his questions during class. He tends to speak for the majority of the class anyway, (he just knows so much), but you should always try to participate as well. While the readings are heavy, the assignments are not, as we only had a final essay due at the end of the quarter. All in all, it was a fun class since we all got along pretty well. Just don't be lazy and don't antagonize him. Know the facts and the timeline of everything that went on and you'll be fine. I don't know my grade in the class yet, so I can't really gauge how "easy" or "hard" it was, but work wise, it's not that bad, and the experience was interesting and sometimes fun.