Good prof, but his lectures are way too theoretical and “academia” focused. Wish there was more real world application and discussion of current events. Cares too much about memorizing names of academia researchers. Ton of reading and most of it isn't well written or engaging, coming from a guy who loves IR. TAs were terrible this quarter.

Wow. get ready to read, get ready to memorize every reading for the final. No study guides/reviews are given, simply memorization. He is a great guy and everyone seems to like him, I just tend to not love his grading and teaching style. Having a good TA will help you a lot. Ahh lots of work but rewarding for sure.

Strathman's penchant for condescension and rote memorization ruined what would've been a fascinating class. In office hours, said my criticism of the idea that colonized people 'benefitted' from colonization was bc my race was colonized and I "probably have a lot of friends in soc".His class teaches us to memorize his views, not think for ourselves

I have taken 4 classes with Dr. Strathman. His classes don't offer much room for error due to their balance. Exams are graded on knowledge of minute details taken from any reading or section of the notes. In order to do well on a final you must bring in every reading applicable, and the omission of one results in a poor grade. Take at your own risk

I don't even know where to begin. Strathman should be teaching grad school or be a teacher in movies. He is a phenomenal lecturer, and I have learned more in his class than in any class at this school combined, but the number of readings and how quickly he covers topics make his classes sadistic.

Engaging lectures and readings. The readings might be a bit long, but if you like the subject, then the readings are interesting. Also, If you are even a bit confused, go to office hours!

Strathman...where do I even begin? I have taken 3 courses with this guy and have come to these conclusions: 1) He is a great lecturer, 2) He grades very harshly and 3) He is not lenient towards people who need special accommodations, so don't get sick and expect any help from him. Funny, engaging, intelligent guy. But not caring or lax at all.

Took online in summer, every week we had about 6 lectures and quizzes. It was a lot of work. Prerecorded lectures were good honestly, thanks to online, if I took it in person, I will fail it. It was very hard. The quizzes were tricky, and the exams were timely and very difficult. I had many diff understanding than the prof based on his lectures.

Very engaging lecturer and I learned a lot but was also one of the most miserable classes ever. Unrealistic grading expectations (I lost many points on tests not because I answered wrong but bc he was looking for a specific, different answer). Never responded to emails. Seemed to pride himself on the fact that a good portion of his students fail.

Strathman provides great lectures, however there is a lot of provided readings that are connected to the quizzes, midterm, and final (all closed notes/book). Memorization of the authors and their theories is helpful for the final. There are also 2 op-eds that are harshly graded. C's get degrees so just do your best. Take quizzes seriously!

Took the class online and in person they are equally as hard but would recommend online. A lot of reading be prepared.

The good things I can say about this professor/course is that the quizzes are very straight forward. However the quizzes draw from an unreasonable amount of readings and the readings are often pictures of text which is annoying because you can't CNTL-F the text. Also had a difficult time receiving help when the class site was not functioning.

Most stressful class I've ever taken. RUN AWAY FOR REAL.

If you go to lectures and sections you can get a B in this class without having to do much outside work. A lot of people say the reading is too much but as long as you get the main point you’ll be fine. Midterm was in person short answer and you did have to memorize author’s names and arguments but it wasn’t that bad. Final was online

The worst poli-sci professor that UCSB has to offer, doesn't offer any real insight about international relations, and focuses heavily on mundane regurgitation of author names and articles as opposed to actual analysis of the material were supposed to learning, it seems like he revels in having his class average for tests be below passing. AVOID.

This was definitely the hardest class I've taken BUT I found it pretty interesting. Strathman was a really good lecturer and I enjoyed going to his class but there were 4-8 hours of readings every weak and he graded the 2 Op-Eds, midterm, and final so hard like he wanted you to fail. If you do all readings and go to class you'll be fine

He has enthusiasm for the material he teaches, I'll give him that, but he never responded to any of my emails and didn't curve the midterm, the average for which was like 50%, which resulted in me getting a C since I did ok on all the others.

Awful class NEVER TAKE IT AGAIN. I took it in person for fall 2021 and I regret every moment. Completely unrealistic expectations and a stupid amount of work for a Political Science class.

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

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.

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.