Introduction to Political Theory

The class for me was rather easy. The test is toned down for people who know nothing about philosophy. I got 100% for two of my exams. I do not know why others complain about her grading. But her lecture is indeed quite boring. Passing the microphone to hapless students is a futile exercise. Some students spoke with wisdom hollower than a vacuum.

12/29/2025

Don't understand Gais' higher rating. Demotivating and self-absorbed lecturer. Dont *learn* anything in class + the homework is just reading/annotations which is deceptively easy. Tests have quote IDs and she has illogical grading. Interesting material that she ruins with her narcissistic lecture style. Steer clear for lecture classes.

6/5/2025

I did well in her class, but Dr. Gais is not cut out for teaching large lectures like 106. She treated it like a discussion section—lectures just consisting of passing a microphone around and hearing hypotheticals + Q&A (essentially pointless). Every class she'd use cuss words to try and seem cool, but it was cringey. I didn't learn anything useful

5/12/2025

As a political THEORY class she actually covered only LITTLE theory and ideologies; all the readings are leftists, so what about the second half on the political spectrum? What about Burke? What about Hobbes, Locke and F.A. Hayek? Those who give her a high rating has exact the same terrible taste as hers. Shame for you guys

5/4/2025

WTF is the meaning of reading ANTIGONE?? LOOK IN MY EYES AND TELL ME, is that political theory? Same for Lorde and King, those are great social activists but they should not appear in the INTRO to THEORY class. UNPROFESSIONAL CLASS!

5/4/2025

Gais isn't the usual prof for poli theory, but she did amazing. Readings were enjoyable and manageable and while lectures aren't mandatory, they're super helpful. People who gave low ratings likely don't know how to take proper notes and expect to just copy and paste from slides. Exams were a breeze as long as you attended lectures or just read

5/2/2025

I know Gais will not be teaching Intro to Political Theory next year, so I can't account for how she is in smaller classes, but this was not very good. The lectures were not very informative, and the second exam was oddly different than the first and third.

4/30/2025

A large lecture with exams is not the best for political theory but she did a fantastic job! She exposed us to a many authors across time, race, etc. and expanded my view of what political theory looks like. She makes lectures seminar-like, with lots of question time and analysis. Just read the texts, listen well, and you will do well.

4/29/2025

I feel she is not qualified to teach large lecture classes. She ran our 200-student lecture class as if it were a 10-person discussion section. Also, get ready for the most ambiguous test questions. The whole class failed the second midterm (70 average) and refused to take any blame for the poorly written questions and instead blamed us entirely.

4/26/2025

NONSENSE that she get such a high rating score. (1) TERRIBLE teaching style: letting students read quotes during the lecture & waste time (2) BAD reading list choice, don't expect to learn what you want (3) use AWKWARD multiple choices that you cant understand why this is the answer. (4) A MEAN score of 74 for EXAM 2 DONT COME, RUN !

4/17/2025

2 or less hrs/week

i was seriously about to drop this class but accidentally missed the add/drop deadline. thought it was the worst day of my life. SO MUCH READING OMFG. but. it got better. things were clicking and starting to make sense. the political theorists started lowkey spitting & the lectures were kinda eating! but do go to lectures, v important. and the tas are super smart and helpful so make use of the time the provide! so yes, it did get better and if u end up thugging it out, u will have a great foundation of poli theory that will help u out in anyyy humanities field. im always referencing readings or authors from this class in other classes and thanks to hayward im a pro!

5/23/2024

6-8 hrs/week

Lots of reading! So much reading! This class does a very good job of teaching but not as good a job of assessing. Attending lectures is not mandatory but is crucial to ur success, as is attending mandatory subsections which are genuinely enjoyable. I think this class would be wonderful if assessments included more free response and less word specific fill in the blanks, as those leave students who understand the content at a disadvantage if they can’t remember specific terms. Overall, you will come away with a great understanding of political theory likely stronger than ur course grade would imply.

5/21/2024

Macmullen has a gift for simplifying complicated & dense political theory and poses questions in class that are interesting and fun to grapple with. Thoroughly enjoyed his lectures. The readings can be long/difficult, but he is ready to help as long as you ask. The quizzes are manageable if you do the readings carefully. Loved this class.

3/23/2016

His approach is bizarre in that there are no papers or discussion sections--only daily quizzes. Political theory is meant to be engaged with, grappled with, questioned, etc. I saw some strong political minds do poorly because they couldn't recite facts easily, only provide keen insights--yet insights had zero value (no participation score).

1/26/2016

Intro to Pol. Theory was my favorite class this semester. The texts assigned were dense, complicated, and heavily philosophical, yet absorbing and intellectually satisfying. Macmullen does a fantastic job explaining abstract concepts through practical and often hilarious examples. Would recommend for those seeking a challenging and rewarding class.

12/14/2015

I took Intro to Poly Theory on a whim, and it turned out to be my favorite class this semester. Readings are certainly difficult, but his lectures are extremely thought provoking. MacMullen himself is very clear and extremely intelligent, with a very incisive way of examining common suppositions.

12/3/2015

Ian MacMullen is an amazing lecturer--he takes complicated concepts and makes them accessable to an intro class. He also has dinner in bd once a week with students for casual discussion and is positively enthused to talk to them outside of class. That said, you will have to read and work hard for your grade. It is much tougher than most intros.

11/2/2015

I'm Majoring PoliSci but really disliked this class. His lectures are extremely boring and self-centered and seems to have gotten lazy. It is very difficult to gauge how well you understand the readings before the quizzes and can think you know it amazingly and do horribly on the quiz. Is interesting material but wouldn't recommend taking it.

10/13/2015

Professor MacMullen was definitely cool at first, but upon realizing that this class was legitimately a philosophy-type class graded entirely through answers from vague daily quizzes and multiple-choice only exams, he becomes significantly less awesome. He is a decent lecturer, but he teaches from a single slide and doesn't post anything online.

12/13/2014

Ugh, just awful. Thinks he's funny and cool talking to students, but really just full of himself.

11/16/2014