PUBPOL-296

WARS OF EMPIRE

Offered Fall 2026

PPS · Taught by Siegel, Jennifer · Last offered Spring 2025

Overview

Feedback is mixed. The clearest upside is that teaching clarity stands out. The strongest complaint is that grading clarity comes up as a friction point. Best for students who want a structured class rather than chaos. The sample is still thin, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.

DepartmentPPS

Terms offeredSpring

Typical enrollment22–22

Semesters of data1

3.2

Hrs / week

Responses

Enrollment

23%

Response Rate

Evaluation Scores

Overall quality

Teaching, content, and experience combined.

3.6

12345

Intellectually stimulating

Challenges students to think deeply.

4.4

12345

Instructor effectiveness

Explains concepts and facilitates learning.

4.8

12345

Difficulty

Higher means harder.

3.8

12345

Feedback Analysis

Feedback Analysislow

Analysis based on student evaluations

Based on 20 comments across 1 sections

Student Reports

How hard is the A?

Hard to get an A

Students repeatedly frame high grades as something you have to earn. This reads as hard to ace rather than casually easy, especially once the course pace or grading standards ramp up.

Homework Load

Moderate homework load

Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.

Lecture Load

Regular lecture load

Lectures matter here, but the evidence points to a fairly standard lecture burden rather than a course dominated by long or exceptionally dense lectures.

Strengths

• Teaching clarity stands out; students repeatedly say the material is explained clearly and effectively.

• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.

• Students repeatedly say the course teaches something concrete, whether that is content mastery, research skill, or a strong foundation.

Tradeoffs

• Grading and expectations come up as a friction point; some comments say the standards are not clear enough.

Best fit for

Best for students who want a structured class rather than chaos.

Watch out for

• Most of the signal comes from a limited sample, so be careful about over-generalizing.

• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.

• If unclear instructions stress you out, pay attention here.