PLIR 2030

kaczor is a chill ta; he knows his material pretty well considering it is his 3rd time as a TA. Fair grader. material is interesting and educational

I went into this course expecting to be an International Relations major with a concentration with East Asia. This course completely changed my mind about that- I am never taking another politics class again if I can help it. The class was very reading-intensive and if you do not do the reading, do not expect to do well. I definitely did not do all of the reading and therefore did not do as well as I had wanted to do in the course. It's tough, but if you stay on top of it, it will be worth it. Try to get Danny Nagashima to be your TA; he was definitely the best out of all the TAs. Not only was he nice, but he also was a pretty easy grader. As for the professor, I thought he was really boring and his lectures often ran late.

This class gives you a good introduction to basic IR theory and applies those theories to historical cases in East Asia. Good for an intro to IR as well as an intro to East Asian history. I've learned a lot about East Asia and I'm making it my concentration for my politics major.

I enjoyed learning the material, but I think the midterm and paper were graded a bit harshly. Participation in discussion groups is a big part of your grade so make sure to do the readings. TA's can be a big help.

The class was pretty straightforward but it could be pretty dry. Professor Schoppa did a good job introducing different IR theories. Overall not too difficult of a class if you pay attention and read the articles. Also, Danny was an awesome TA.

Professor Schoppa is a phenomenal instructor and by no means is the course content in and of itself challenging. Ultimately, however, your experience in the class and your overall grade itself will be dependent on who you have as a TA. I had Yuxing Liang and from what I have heard from my friends who also took this class at the same time, she was definitely the TA to go with. The other TA (Sunggun Park) was apparently very harsh and a difficult grader. This is a course where your grade heavily depends on who you have as a TA so if you play it right, then you'll be fine but otherwise, you could be setting yourself up on a collision course for issues.