The concepts of the class are straightforward. However, Nall is a horrible lecturer. Rarely finishes lectures on time. There would be a large amount of reading, and while the concepts are easy to understand, you won't know which ones are important and will be needed for application on tests/projects. Oh, and he doesn't believe in modern technology.

Good readings and good lectures. The class is really more of an interactive seminar. The policy memo project is good training for future jobs in politics and policy.

I don't know why Nall is regarded as a difficult professor on this website, maybe he changed his approach to teaching recently. Yes, there are weekly papers, but they're more time-consuming than challenging (2 1/2 hours a week minimum should be enough). Just remember large concepts and how they relate to readings/case studies and you should be fine

PS170 was interesting but was full of many assignments that made it unmanageable in a quarter system. Two 250-word reading responses a week (not actually responses, had to apply readings in different ways), midterm, final, policy proposal, 8 pg. policy memo, attendance and participation in lecture & section on top of 100-200 pgs of reading a week.

The type of class you can never go to and still get an A in. 10/10.

He assigns more readings than any other professor I've had in poli sci, but the readings were interesting and it was easy to write the required response journal entries. Contrary to other posters, I thought he was engaging and thought-provoking, especially when the class was discussing controversial issues.

The professor did a good job at relating the readings to the lecture and contemporary or past examples. I enjoyed the type of analysis we were encouraged to engage in and I think the weekly journal entries were a good way to measure this along the way, I appreciated the feedback. I learned a lot from this class and the final paper was engaging.

This class is a much more reasonable class to take with Nall. The grade is made up of a midterm, final, research paper (done individually or in a group), and section participation. There is still a lot of reading to do (150-250 pages per week), similar to PS162, but it is much more manageable seeing as there aren't nearly as many assignments.

Professor Nall did try to make the course a lot less demanding than I would expect a normal quarter to go, which I appreciated a lot. That being said, he assigned a ridiculous amount of reading each week, posted lectures late in the week, and provided very little explanation on assignments/exams. Overall meh experience.

Felt disrespected and undervalued as a woman and a minority. His x profile says everything you need to know about him. He wasn't Stanford material and ended up getting the job at UCSB where he really tries to make the life of everyone more miserable. If you take him, make sure that you are aware that he is very fragile and emotional.

Nall is an expert in American Politics/Public Policy. The course is structured to mimic a graduate-level course. You will read long, complex texts and elaborate on the content in lectures. 106AD focuses on the evolution of the U.S. bureaucracy since the 1800s and theories from APD. Also, he respects and rewards hard workers; the grind is worth it.

He is ok. He doesn't post lecture slides and doesn't allow laptops, which would be fine, except his lectures sometimes get very tangent-y. There is so much reading. The assignments aren't very hard, and there are not very many, but you don't get ANY feedback about your grade on the short answer questions he assigns each week, and there is no rubric

Had him for two upper divs, 162 and 106AD. Both were relatively straightforward as long as you paid attention to the readings and had an idea of what you wanted to do for the papers (memos in 162 and the paper in 106AD). It's a lot of reading but if you can find the arguments in each you'll be way better off.

He didn't receive tenure at Stanford so that's why he is bitter all the time. Now he only torments other people to make himself feel better. Mean professor, terrible attitude. Avoid at all costs.

Prof Nall doesn't seem to like teaching, and definitely doesn't like students. He's condescending, he's mean, and makes fun of you for asking a question. He won't allow computers in class, even for note taking. He seems angry all the time.

Nall is definitely a tough professor, but his class is very rewarding: You will learn a lot, but you do have to put a lot of work in. Lots of reading, but if you do it and understand it you will get an A on the quizzes, so it is very doable. Go to lecture and the final is not too difficult if you are on top of your work during the quarter.

Reading quizzes and 2 research papers make up most of your grade. It's a hard class but he tells you day 1. Doesn't allow electronics, so you have to handwrite all notes and he doesn't post lecture slides. The 2nd paper was due 4 days before the final and his review is NOT helpful. Don't bother asking questions b/c he will just make you feel dumb.

Professor Nall is MEAN. He is so unfriendly and so unhelpful. He gets mad when you don't know as much about a topic as him, that he literally has a PhD in. He said himself that students should be doing 5+ hours of work outside of class for a 2 credit class. He has a condescending attitude and that makes for an unpleasant learning environment. AVOID

It's a lot of reading that you have to do. Some of them were interesting and others were a bore, but the participation in class made it far more engaging. He teaches it like a grad-school level class, so if you're interested in getting a taste of upper-level academia, I would recommend this class. Also the final paper was actually quite interesting

I took POLS12 last year and it was tough! For a lower division prerequisite course, this class was unnecessarily difficult. Lots of reading from two required textbooks (about 1-2 long, multi-sectional chapters) for each class. Lectures are good but he only pulls from the readings for tests which are extremely nit-picky and specific. Wouldn't retake

Two midterms, a final, and quizzes. There are tons of readings to keep up with. The exams are crazy difficult but he curves.

Nall is a tough professor but he is ultimately fair. The class projects are a great introduction to doing original original research.

Its one of the hardest classes ive had at ucsb, but I learned a lot and he's a good teacher. very hard class though, tests are really hard, ive managed to get As on them by putting in hours into the textbook and making insane notes for the tests (ahead of time keeping up with readings). might be in some bureaucratic lawyer cult but overall cool.

Took this for a pre-req for