Freeman is a nice lady. Attendance was not mandatory. Because of this, most people didn't show up to lecture. Her lectures were very dry and weren't engaging. She told the TA to grade harshly on the final due to lack of attendance when it wasn't even required. TA Sterling was a chill guy but a very harsh grader. Review the syllabus frequently.

I am shocked at the bad reviews for Prof Freeman - her class was by far easier than other poly sci courses and was packed with relevant information. 10+ readings a week but you do not need to do them. Take home midterm/final was essay format with 2-4 days to complete. She's nice but lectures are copied Wikipedia and grading criteria super unclear.

Prof Freeman is such a sweet lady who cares about her students. She does put a lot of info on her slides, but she posts the slides on gs so you can copy/paste them into your notes. I never did the reading! Midterm & Final were take home short identifications and a small essay. A pretty easy class TBH. As long as you have notes you'll be fine.

Lectures were very bland but had a lot of information packed in them. She made the final take home and said it was possible to complete in 3 hours--writing 1250 words for one big essay and then 1200 for 3 small essays is not it.

Im not gonna lie this is one of the worst professors, I've ever come across throughout my time in UCSB, and Ive seen some pretty bad ones. (e.g. Nall, Moosebreiger, and Felicity Stone-Richards. Don't take this class, and also don't take any class with Laffy Taffy.

Second time taking her. She knows what she's talking about and has a clear rubric. Makes it easy to get an A.Section is a big chunk of your grade, and 5 commentaries that are graded for completion help balance out your grade against the paper and midterm/final...I don't understand why the ratings are so low! She always comes to class with a smile