PLIR 3650

A truly excellent class. Prof. Quandt knows the material extremely well especially when he talks about the Camp David Accords and the modern peace process. As long as you study for the two midterms, it is not too dificult.

great course, highly recommended

quandt used to be a hot shot in DC so his stories are pretty interesting...other than that, you can get an A by just doing the assigned reading and reading his online powerpoints... lechure attendance is not required for a good grade.

I always enjoyed coming to class to hear Quandt's point of view on the subject at hand and even current events. I learned a whole lot from the readings and the lectures. This is definitely worth taking for some knowledge about the Middle East. HE CURVES THE TESTS and DO NOT TAKE THE ID SECTION LIGHTLY - this is a huge portion of your grade on the tests.

Prof Quandt gives good lectures and it helps that he actually played a role in some of the major events when he worked in the government. He tries to engage the class even though it's really big. There's a lot of reading and some of it is a little dense. Also, the only grades are a midterm and final which is good and bad.

Such an engaging lecturer. I woke up at 9am everyday without fail to find out what happens next in the history of the Middle East!

Professor Quandt is very knowledgeable about the Middle East and loves to dispense his wisdom. However, I found lectures boring and just a repetition of the book. You don't need to go to class in order to do very well in the course. The exams are long and sometimes challenging. No matter what he says you will most likely run out of time when you take his tests. Some graders are easier than others. It's luck of the draw so you need to be prepared for the harshest grader.

I LOVED Quandt! I was failing the class (or so I thought for the majority of the semester), but I enjoyed talking to him in office hours. Some people found his lectures to be out of this world; I thought they were average. Great class to take if you want to learn about the current situation in ME and a little background info. Majority of class is focused on events from the 1950s onwards.

I found Quandt's class to be mediocre across the board. The good news however, is that it is fairly easily.

Quandt is one of the best professors I've had so far. He tries to engage the class even though it's so big, and since he's actually been to these places and known some historical figures personally, he has a lot of cool and funny anecdotes to share. If you have any interest in international studies or just want to learn more about the Middle East, definitely take this class. It is a lot of work--make sure you do most of the readings (or get into a study group) as the midterm and the final are your only grades. Don't let that scare you too much though, as he curves them and most people do better on the final than they did on the midterm.