PUBPOL-880

THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES

Not in Fall 2026
PPS · Taught by Blair, Dennis · Last offered Spring 2025
Term

Overview

Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that students generally rate the course well. Difficulty runs on the high side even without a single dominant complaint theme. Best for students who can handle a demanding pace without needing constant hand-holding.

DepartmentPPS
Terms offeredSpring
Typical enrollment18–18
Semesters of data2
7.6
Hrs / week
19
Responses
36
Enrollment
53%
Response Rate

Evaluation Scores

Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.3
12345
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.6
12345
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.2
12345
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
4.3
12345

Feedback Analysis

Feedback Analysismedium
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 72 comments across 2 sections

Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that students generally rate the course well. Difficulty runs on the high side even without a single dominant complaint theme. Best for students who can handle a demanding pace without needing constant hand-holding.

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
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
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
Instructor ratings are strong even when the comments do not cluster around one obvious positive theme.
Tradeoffs
Difficulty runs high even when comments do not settle on one dominant complaint.
Best fit for
Best for students who can handle a demanding pace without needing constant hand-holding.
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

I've learned how to analyze events in new ways. Some events, such as the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, for example, already have their conclusions and accepted narratives. This class was crucial for being able to look deeply into these types of events and analyze causes, effects, relationships, and conditions to paint a more detailed picture in a broader scope to capture the strategic importance of threats to national security and/or the opportunities for gains against the same. New scenarios and events, some that haven't happened yet, were argued and deliberated. This offered great new insight into the events and different ways of thinking. This has been one of my favorite courses in the program.
Spring 2024 · Blair, Dennis
Case study analysis
Spring 2024 · Blair, Dennis
Rigorous Writing - Bi-Weekly writing requirement definitely challenged me throughout the semester Analytical Writing - Practice saying more with less Not being afraid of word counts
Spring 2024 · Blair, Dennis
I learned threats, opportunities, and how people, policy, and processes influence Presidential decision making in various situations throughout US history.
Spring 2024 · Blair, Dennis
The key strength of this course was that the professor pushed you to think critically and does not tolerate shallow thinking. I learned more about how to think in general than I have in any other course I have taken. I particularly benefited from the many instances of applying historical context to current and future issues.
Spring 2024 · Blair, Dennis

Rating History

Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
TermInstructorOverallDifficultyHrs/wkEnrolled
Spring 2025Blair, Dennis4.84.98.418
Spring 2024Blair, Dennis3.93.76.918