This class is overall interesting, however, it is challenging for no reason. The TA who grades the exams said there was a "lack of specificity" but that didn't help me understand what I got wrong. The grading is harsh and there's so much content to learn. I wish there would've been at least a study guide but nothing. Would not recommend it.

Grade based on in person timed write midterm & final, plus one big paper based on 1 of 4 films. If you're not a theory person, avoid this class at all costs. Prof is fine but class is boring and tedious, & is my least favorite pols class yet. Hard to do without mass amounts of reading.

Doesn't post lecture slides online, so be sure to take good notes. Graded on the midterm, a paper, and the final. Lots of reading.

Readings are long and dense but explained thoroughly in lecture. Tests are pretty darn hard for an intro class but if you put in the work definitely possible.

Professor Digeser was my introduction to UCSB Political Science and her class was absolutely amazing. Many students struggled to keep up with the speed of the class but if you take good notes during the lecture, you should be fine. I got an A in the class despite not touching any of the readings, but that was only because of my focus on the lecture

Professor Digeser is an amazing professor and Poli Sci 1 is a highly interesting class! However, the material is tough. This is not an easy A in any way. You will read dense texts on political theory from Aristotle, Locke, Hobbes, and Rawls. In lecture, Digeser explains everything and makes it easy to understand the complex ideas. Highly recommend!

Professor Digeser is such a passionate lecturer which made her class easy to go to and pay attention. Some readings were boring but she goes over them in lecture and so does your TA. TAs grade your tests and essays but they werent harsh graders. Managed to skip some of the readings and finished with a A-!

Although the reading load was a bit heavy and dry, I appreciated that Prof Digeser was very thorough in lecture and really helped dissect each reading. Political Philosophy was not a class I particularly enjoyed, but Digeser was very good. Go to lecture, study, and write a great essay to do well in this class. Keep up with reading if you can.

The professor herself is very kind. However, there are about six long, dense books that are required reading, in addition to a very difficult paper. The material itself is interesting enough, but this class isn't easy, and you will have to work hard to get an A. Lectures are very helpful, but not posted online so you need to go to class.

One of the best professors ever. Amazing lectures. Go to all lectures if you choose to not read and you should be okay. You are graded on midterm, one 8-pg paper, and final. This class will get you thinking. You gotta work hard and study, but I actually enjoyed studying for this class. Digeser is super sweet and approachable as well.

Digeser is a good professsor. She goes over the material thoroughly and her tests are reflective of what she teaches. but the TA WHO GRADE THE ESSAYS AND TESTS ARE INCREDIBLY BRUTAL. Hardest class i've had to take. Content is not difficult, but the grading is brutal.

Like most Political Theory professors, come prepared to read quite a bit. That said, unlike her counterpart Norris, Digeser actually works to demystify the challenging works she assigns and is very receptive to class participation. She's traditional in the sense that the class is essay based, but tends to be a fair grader.

Digeser is an amazing prof, really dissects the subjects in class and makes it easy to understand- lecture is super important to go to if you want to do well.

Honestly, i loved this class! I came into the class expecting it to be dry and boring, but she made it truly enjoyable. The readings are very tedious, boring, and often very hard to understand, but Professor Digeser explains it very thoroughly throughout lecture. Dont skip lectures, they're REALLY helpful in my opinion.

I love Professor Digeser. She cares about her students and cares about the subject. She is really able to distill really complicated readings into manageable chunks and her lectures are really effective at breaking down the structure of an argument. I had her for both PS1 and PS110J.

Digeser makes the structure of the class pretty clear from the start. The readings are not fun, but in this class you need to understand philosophical positions, not specific parts of the text, and I got by fairly reasonably on sparknotes. She's a sweet professor who tries to get to know the names of her students, even in a large class setting.

The class can be very confusing at first since Digeser goes fast but once you start understanding the way youre supposed to perceive the material, its not so bad. The TAs grade everything so going to section can help you understand what you need. Also the reading is very dense but prof goes over EVERYTHING in class so dont bother unless you want to

Prof Digeser is an amazing prof! I was pretty bummed out that I had to take political philosophy as one of my pre-major requirements, but she made this class truly enjoyable! She's a great lecturer and even knows many students in the class by name and calls on them often. Only complaint is the readings: she needs to assign more modern theorists!!

Digeser is a great professor. She has amazing lectures that really capture the main ideas of the reading homework assigned. Reading is very dense and hard to understand. Honestly you can get away with not doing ALL the reading if you always go to lecture but I encourage you to try it cause those books arent cheap. For final focus on main ideas (gov

One of the best and engaging professors I've ever had. Go to office hours to get amazing insight on the philosophy of the class. She's tough but totally worth it.

Very passionate! I loved how clear she was about the obscure subject matter that philosophy tends to be. She was pretty funny and I really enjoyed the lectures but the course itself is very difficult. The readings and dense and rather frequent. I think PS1 is designed to weed out the incapable students because as a PS major it was the hardest one.

Digeser's lectures are incredibly clear and interesting, and they cover everything you need to know for the midterm and final. The reading can be difficult, but her lectures basically tell you what the reading was about. Takes some studying to get the important terms straight in your head, but overall the class was very insightful and enjoyable.

Digeser is passionate about the topic, which always makes something like philosophy (I'm not a fan) more interesting. Lectures were helpful to me b/c some readings were pretty difficult to understand- and there's a LOT of reading. My TA ultimately just made me more confused about topics & grading was pretty harsh.

Digeser was an awesome professor! Attending class and taking organized notes is essential because her lectures clarify all the readings and outline pretty much everything you need to know for the tests. Definitely a class worth taking, even if it isn't a field of study you're particularly interested in.