Professor Bruhn is very knowledgeable on comparative politics, especially in terms of Latin America. The lectures were very dense and long. The reading is not too difficult, only one chapter per week with an easy 10 question quiz on Friday thats due by Monday. The grade was mainly based on the two papers which are graded by the TA's.
Class and lectures were actually easy to follow but depends on TA since I did everything still ended up with C with no comments.
She is a really amazing lecturer and she has designed a wonderful class. But pay attention to the two papers, which gonna kill you if you had gone through the motions!!
Professor Bruhn was a fine professor. The class was based on 2 papers, weekly quizzes, and some extra credit. My issue here is with the TA who graded the papers, specifically Taylor Trummel, who gave little to no feedback on the final essay. Virtually no feedback as to why you got the score you did.
I thought this class was very interesting, The lectures sometimes were confusing because she would talk a lot about things that were not directly stated on lecture slide, She has a lot of knowledge and experience in her field which makes her lectures engaging Quizzes not that hard if you have good notes,read, Overall enjoyed class
Content-heavy lectures, but they align decently well with the reading. Not a ton of grading opportunities outside the 35% midterm/35% final/20% reading quizzes/10% participation. Midterm grades took until Week 10 to be released, so that limited how much you could improve your grade. Do the EC and you'll be fine, just grind on essay skills.
The essay prompts are all over the place. And no, the textbook and lectures do not align.
The lectures and the book cover pretty much the same material so you really only have to do one or the other. This class is fairly easy if you pay attention in lecture.
terrible. not considerate during covid, made us write two papers as a final when we had just turned in a paper the week before finals week. isn't mindful that we have other classes other than her own. quizzes are tolerable but overall v bad as a person. sent emails claiming her final was easy as if she were the one writing it. worst professor in ps
Very unclear grading criteria, super not accommodating during the pandemic. Sent out emails belittling people for asking clarifying questions. essays made us repeat ourselves. harsh grading criteria.
She is a smart professor sure, but she absolutely does not have the students well being in mind at all. Weekly quizzes, lectures, and readings. 2 papers and TWO essays for a final and gives 1 week. provides rubric then basically says "do everything I tell you and I will give you a B, got to have a perfect paper to get an A". Would never take again.
took during COVID Lectures are asynch, section is synch & mandatory, weekly quizzes on reading and lectures. one of the worst profs ive ever had. 2 papers, 2 final papers during finals week. essay instructions were given 2 days before due date, and only give B instructions. she says u must go above and beyond for A but doesn't say how.
The class is super interesting and Bruhn really knows her stuff. However, the course requires a 15 page case study paper that neither Bruhn or the TAs really teach you how to write that is worth 30% of your grade. Other than that the course is pretty straight forward, also after the midterm she gives extra credit so be sure to go.
Truly one of the least engaging, most boring lecturers I've ever had. An example of the pitfalls of universities prioritizing research prowess over teaching ability.
PowerPoint slides are basically copy and paste from the textbook, which she summarizes in lecture. Studied the textbook more and did not really attend lectures because it's the same thing. Midterm and final are multiple choice with essay chosen from study guide. Really easy if you put in the work and study case studies.
Lectures are terrible
Lectures are mostly her reading directly off of a PowerPoint that's posted online. Lectures are usually pretty boring. Where my problem lies is that the grading criteria for the quizzes and participation in section is vague, leaving you questioning your grade until the end of the quarter. Would recommend the class, but with a different professor
Professor Bruhn is clearly a master of the content that she is teaching. She is knowledgeable to an extent beyond that I have seen in UCSB before. However, her lectures go by quickly, too quickly, and it takes away from the ability to digest the information. I didnt touch the textbook but that was because I had work experience in the subject matter
I took 134 Spring 2015, and found myself wanting to take her again (the TA made the class hard, but if you go to lecture and hear her out/engage with the material, you'll see that in your grade). I then took 147 and 148 because Bruhn LOVES what she teaches which makes it interesting. She gives out study guides, and tests are straight forward.
This class wasn't too bad honestly. I went a lot and it was really helpful but it's not completely necessary if you really don't want to go. The exams are both worth 40% though which makes it hard to make up for mistakes and the midterm is really rushed. Other than that this class was fine and no papers :)
She is one of the least approachable/friendly professors I've had at UCSB however she gives excellent lectures and gives students the greatest educational gift they can hope for which is graded practice on researching and writing real-world scenario assignments. I used her assignments as writing samples with my resume and landed a political job
took 6 and found myself wishing I went to lecture more just to hear her lecture (& to help my grade) so was interested in taking 147. passionate and straightforward lectures. she really knows her stuff and engaging. didn't do much reading. gives study guide and occasional extra credit. posts lectures. tests can be tricky if not prepared
you need to read the textbook to pass weekly section quizzes. her midterm and final are based on lecture. so pay attention to the notes.
Tough class. A LOT of reading. The reader is where she tests from. TAs were useless. Bruhn knows her stuff to another echelon and it shows in her material. Very interesting class but so much material that it is difficult to enjoy it.