Professor isn't very nice, he's very serious. There's 3 quizzes each worth 10%. First is the map quiz, next 2 are mcq and you need to actually study for these to do well. Final research paper is about 10 pages, they grade it harshly. I barely took notes and procrastinated everything (got an A). Just study the relevant stuff and ignore the rest.

I would not recommend taking this class. His lectures are not very engaging, there is a lot of reading for this class, and communication between him and his TAs are unclear. Miscommunication resulted in very low quiz scores for the majority of the class, making or breaking students' grades. Professor is very knowledgable but do not recommend!

Not a very nice guy

THIS PROFESSOR DOWN CURVES. Did very well on all of the assignments, but then they graded the final paper VERY harshly. Even if you finish with an A raw score, he will down-curve so beware. Boring lectures & attendance not mandatory. Take at your own risk

Masterson is great, his lectures were engaging and even if you missed a few you had access to the material so that you didn't fall behind. The grade is just 3 response papers that you can complete on your own time and the final paper, along with an easy map quiz. Overall, great class.

Prof. Masterson was able to cover a lot of interesting things about MENA. There are 3 response papers (on assigned readings) that can be done whenever within the 10 weeks. No midterm or final, however, there is 1 final research paper, and Eli Review was used to collab with your peers on topic proposal and assistance. He is well-traveled and kind.