PUBPOL-506
POLITICS OF US FOREIGN POLICY
Not in Fall 2026
Term
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
DepartmentPPS
Terms offeredSpring, Fall
Typical enrollment19–21
Semesters of data2
4.8
Hrs / week
26
Responses
40
Enrollment
65%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.3
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.4
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.6
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
3.6
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysismedium
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 69 comments across 2 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
A is doable but not automatic
The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.
Homework Load
Heavy homework load
Homework load is one of the clearest friction points. Students repeatedly describe assignments, readings, or problem sets as time-consuming.
Lecture Load
Lighter lecture burden
Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.
Strengths
• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.
• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.
Tradeoffs
• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.
Best fit for
Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
Watch out for
• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.
Student Responses
The reading material was excellent and supportive of the in-class discussion and the professor delivered comments. I personally learned most from the in-class discussion with professor comments.
Fall 2023 · Jentleson, Bruce
I think that I pushed my analytical and research ability.
Fall 2023 · Jentleson, Bruce
We learned a lot about foreign policy and the ways that it is made within the US. Specifically, we discussed how race, religion, history, politics can all play a role in affecting it.
Fall 2023 · Jentleson, Bruce
I learned how to critically read arguments about foreign policy, foreign policy trends in the last 50 years, and how foreign policy might play out in the 2024 elections.
Fall 2023 · Jentleson, Bruce
Foreign policy structure and evaluation criteria,
Fall 2023 · Jentleson, Bruce
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2025 | Jentleson, Bruce | — | — | 4.4 | 21 |
| Fall 2023 | Jentleson, Bruce | 4.3 | 3.6 | 5.1 | 19 |
Instructor
Also teaches
PUBPOL-877 NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY4.4