first day of class and I wish the roof would cave in

Only take this class if u are okay with having ZERO understanding of expectations and understand going into finals u will have one assignment graded, and the rest is up to chance. This was truly one of the most disorganized classes I've ever taken at UCSB. I went to ask about my grade, and only then was I given a rubric with hidden instructions

Yes, she's a tough grader. Yes, she assigns a lot of reading. But, we should show her compassion, too. She has had a difficult life (divorce) and that might be why she is the way that she is. You cannot judge a person until you have walked in their shoes. Perhaps she means well and wants us to learn and she feels the hard way is the best way.

She is my favorite IR professor by far. Civil wars is definitely not an easy A but you will learn so much. She is also very sweet and helpful in her office hours.

Liked her but unfair grading

As long as you paid attention in lecture, you'd be fine. People just hated her because she didn't put a lot on her slides, but you're in college you shouldn't expect to just be able to copy off everything on the slides and not have to think for yourself. TAs were really helpful, the readings were light, she even gave extra credit opportunities.