Legitimately the worst professor I have ever taken in my entire academic career, lectures are super dense, 100-200 pages of readings a week, expected to memorize every single author and concept they suggest, docked on exams for unknown reasons... Stay away

The hardest that I have ever worked to get a c in a class. The tests he gives question you about things that he barely went over in lecture and that werent really even mentioned in the readings. He is also extremely arrogant and views his students as inferior, constantly insulting their intelligence. Avoid the wrath of strath!!

We started with 180 people in a class in an impacted department, we have ended with maybe 150, probably everybody who's a non major has gone with the pass no pass option. The quality of this class is horrendous, and Strathman simply doesn't know how to teach. Assigns the most reading of any prof ive ever taken, and expects you to cite it verbatim.

The professor gives you no guidance in terms of preparing you for the final as well as the midterm, the questions are incredibly vague and they focus one topics that are barely covered in lecture or reading. Only one or two students got an A on the midterm and final, the class average for both was around a 58, one of the worst teachers at ucsb!!

Reading is everything in this class--if you don't do the readings you will not pass. He expects a lot from the midterm and final on top of 2 papers. Although he is tough, he is very clear about what he is looking for on the exams. He recommended splitting readings with a group. You can succeed if you just read and take good notes.

Good luck with the vague questions and onslaught of reading unlike any professor in the UCSB polisci department that you've taken before. There are other professors in the Polisci department, do yourself a favor and avoid this guy.

The class is set up so that students fail, he expects over 120 pages of reading a week and expects you to be able to remember most of it for the midterm which comes 6 weeks in, he also will have you memorize every author and expects you to connect them to your answers while taking his tests which are already daunting, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Quite possibly the worst prof in the Polisci department at UCSB, the average on the midterm was 67. Also very arrogant towards students. He expects memorization of least25 authors on each test and more than that for the final, he also is looking for very specific authors and doesn't give a study guide,final grade not reflective of what you learned.

Not good! Not good at all! Good luck if you enroll in any of his classes like I did.

Kind of wants you to read his mind. Lectures are interesting but only a quarter of the actual work is required to do well. He grades based on whether he thinks you have improved, and tests are insanely difficult.

If you like IR and are actually willing to put in the work, then Strathman's classes are the best PS classes you could take at UCSB. His tests are very difficult and heavily focused on lectures, so make sure to know them like the back of your hand. Would definitely recommend going to office hours as well, he's a really cool guy

I recommend avoiding taking his class if possible. There is a lot of reading and midterm and final are based on the reading with no study guide on what exactly from the reading should be focused on. Also there is a strict answer key to the short answer and essay questions and you are timed while doing it.

This professor grades super super harshly. Take this class if you are willing to actively do every reading and watch every lecture.

Strathman gives 100+ pgs to read, but only 30 min worth of lecture, (both per/wk), that don't fully address readings. We were graded harshly, expected to cite most scholars/authors on tests (not open note), and quizzes ( 6 per/wk) had trick/vague questions. Class structure doesn't represent work put in nor one's mastering of material.

Strathman assigns wayyy too many readings and quizzes. Expect to sit through 100-200 pages and 6-8 quizzes per week. The readings are dense, dry, and difficult to get trudge through and remember. He then expects you to perfectly cite them on essay questions in exams. He also grades quizzes unfairly and grades op-ed assignments too harshly.

He needs to stop having so many quizzes it is so annoying theres like 10 quizzes every single week based on every single reading and lecture. It is really hard to get a good grade in this class because he grades really harshly on essays, and the only way to boost up your grade is quizzes.. which are also impossible.

I've had classes with most professors in the poli sci department and Strathman is by far the worst. He uploaded VERY short lectures that weren't much help so I basically had to teach myself the course material. We also had to complete many quizzes every week which kinda sucked. He's also a very tough grader who didn't give any helpful feedback.

HOLY COW! He assigns the most reading than any prof ever at UCSB! There was around 300 pages a week of dense academic journals. I guess if you want to spend countless hours every week reading this would be the class for you. Very cool guy and interesting lectures but if you don't read you won't pass.

Strathman is very passionate in IR, and it shows. His lectures are very interesting. But he falls short in the grading department. For the midterm and final he expected you to know all the readings and be able to readily cite them in order to get credit, but he did not make that known to us before the midterm.

Prof Strathman is very knowledgeable on Foreign Policy but makes his classes impossible to pass. You'll have about 100-200 pages of dense reading per week, lectures that are hard to follow, and no study guide for any of the tests. He looks for specific answers to his tests that he doesn't explicitly voice, and the TA's never know what's going on

Theres a midterm, paper, and final test. I went to every single lecture, took notes, and read and still managed to fail the midterm, the class average was a 67% (says more about him than me). Test preparation is extremely unclear, what he said to study was not on the test (no study guide either), TA's didn't know what was on the test either.

A great lecturer, but each lecture is stuffed with info. Randomly checks attendance. He is approachable and encourages questions. His tests are notoriously difficult, but if you do the readings and study extensively beforehand you should be fine. Sometimes curves grades based on your ability to improve throughout the course. Take him if you love IR

Very passionate professor and has amazing engaging lectures. He assigns more readings than any professor I've had before which he really cares about for the tests. He incorporates all the readings into the tests and really cares if you know the authors name, article name, subject. His tests are hard and if you do not study a lot you will not pass.

Strathman is an incredible professor! His course was structured so that there were just readings until week 8 then a simulation and essay for the final. Always do the reading - exams are author focused. Pay attention in lecture. At first his structure seems confusing but once you get it down it flows really well! Always avaliable to help!