Pol 106 - In the first hour, used phrase "whether you like it or not" at least six times. Very concerned with structure and control, very little on direct teaching, and class structure is VERY cumbersome (required contract, multiple students presentations EVERY day, etc). Nice in person, though, but clearly inexperienced.

She's very smart and she knows what she's talking about. Comes off as cocky but with time you will find that she is actually really nice and approachable. She is willing to help you with everything. The tests are easy, mostly from lecture. The group project SUCKED a lot!! Overall the class was mediocre but she's a great lecturer and very helpful.

I took this class fall 08. It was a really good class! I learned a lot, it was a little challenging at times. She's really passionate about this subject and presents the information well. Test questions were 80% from lecture 20% from the book. The assignment for the class was demanding but relevant. Overall solid teacher and great class.

She's good! Take her class this summer. Just about every major can benefit from this course! You'll learn a lot!

Awesome! The best instructor I've had at Davis, hands down. She's very dynamic in class and super helpful outside of class too. The group project was stressful but hugely rewarding, though she told us it was an experiment and she won't do group projects again. Can't wait to take another class from her.

Awesome! Best instructor I've had at Davis, hands down. She's very dynamic in class and super helpful outside of class too. The group work was challenging but hugely rewarding, though she told us it was a one time experiment and she won't do group projects again. Can't wait to take another class from her.

Best professor I have ever had PERIOD. I have taken both of her classes and am hoping that she'll start teaching a third. Also, I think that 106 will be even better without the massive group project!

Excellent professor, excellent class.

Professor Boydstun was so passionate and knowledgeable. This class was awesome. Class and reading need to be done - overall great class and professor.

Really interesting material and excellent prof. Would definitely take another class from her again.

One of the best professors I have had!! I wouldn't say her class is easy because it is a lot of work. I would recommend taking POL 51 beforehand because a lot of the class is based on research. She is very passionate and very interesting lectures but you have to go to class!

great teacher. very helpful and willing to go the extra mile for her students. she has no problem explaining any material that may seem unclear. her class is demanding so the text and attendance is vital if you want a good grade.

Boydstun is one of the better poli sci profs at UCD. Her expectations are clear and she goes over everything you need to know in class. I took 106 and 109 with her and she definitely does a better job with 109. Overall, I enjoyed her classes, even though our personalities didn't mash up at times.

If you go to class, you don't have to read. Well, I didn't anyway, and I got an A+. She grades you on participation, so ask questions if you don't understand! Everything is pretty straightforward and exam expectations are ridiculously clear. I'd recommend her.

very knowledgeable and informative professor.i found her course to be pretty interesting. make sure to stay on top of the weekly online quizzes and study them as well as the lecture notes for the midterm and final and you should do fine in the class.

One of the easiest and funnest classes I've taken. Just attend class and pay attention so you don't have to do the reading. Quizzes are really easy, midterms are ridiculously easy! The only hard part is the big assignment. But if you don't procrastinate then you'll be fine. Take it! Plus she is pretty hot.

I really liked Professor Boydstun. She was very personable, and made sure that everyone understood the lessons. Good study guides and examples of what the tests would look like.

Class is easy to manage. 2 assignments, 2 Midterms, and 4 quizzes. Sounds like a lot, but they all are pretty straight forward. Great professor.

Wasn't very interested in the subject but Prof Boystun makes the subject exciting. She makes the effort to remember names & engage students. Loved her book on CA Death Penalty, the biggest work in the assignment, option to work with partner too. I did and made it a lot easier. Super helpful in office hours wish she taught more classes.

One of my favorite professors at Davis. Her lectures made an extraordinarily boring topic interesting. Her class is a little challenging, so go to all of the classes, and do all of the reading. If you ever need help, Boydstun is very willing to help her students.

Not an easy professor, but the lectures are awesome and I learned a lot.

Best poli-sci professor I've had as of yet. Makes a very boring subject interactive and fun. I hope to take another class with her before I graduate next year.

The quizzes are harder than the tests. Attending lecture is somewhat necessary to doing well. You need the textbooks for the quizzes, so reading is essential. She's hot, and her lectures are amazing. Alot of work though, don't take this if you're going to slack off.

Boydstun is tight. She's a handful at first because her assignments are more diverse than most poli sci classes. She's great to listen to in lecture and you need to show up at least 80% of the time. If I was a politician I'd want her as one of my advisors. Learned a lot in this class.

Lots of assignments. Participation: 10%, Online Quizzes: 10%, 5 page journal article summary: 20%, 8 page research design (tons of work): 20%, midterm: 20%, final: 20%. Definitely a tough workload. I would not recommend if you have a lot of work in other classes.

Her POL 109 class is amazing. Her research and all of her ideas (along the ones she cites) are applicable in every profession, especially Political Science. 100% recommend. Definitely one of the best Professors here at UC Davis. You won't regret it.

I've had some good teachers and Prof. Boydstun is way up there. Interesting, relevant conversation and reading topics. A lot of insight into the current political process and how political scientists investigate it. A fair amount of reading to do with the quizzes. Fair tests w/ multiple choice and short/long answer. Multiple books.

She is a great professor. You can tell she is an expert on the subject (media in politics). The class is basically 2 tests and a project. The project isn't too bad but the tests will be difficult if you don't read the materials. The powerpoints are very thorough so if you miss a class its not the end of the world. (She is also funny and beautiful)

BEST CLASS EVER! She is so clear and funny. Her test are very straightforward. As long as you go to class and take good notes, you'll be fine. Her paper is very straightforward, you can work with someone if you want!

Boydstun is the epitome of awesome professors.

Great lecturer, enjoyed the class, but get ready to read and participate, a lot of group work

At first I was nervous when she said she was going to call on people but it has made me step up my game and make sure I'm paying attention. I also like the way she integrates class conversation with lecture. Seriously the best professor I've ever had.

Boydstun is the ideal professor. I take all notes on my laptop, and she doesn't allow laptops in class so I was wary in the beginning. However, I ended up doing well in this class. If you go to class, pay attention, and read, it's an easy A. There is a content analysis project, it is tedious, but interesting; it is fairly easy and straightforward.

You really have to work in this class and keep up with the readings, but it's SO worth it. It was especially neat taking this class during the election but it would be great anytime.

Dr. Boydstun is amazing. She's very clear with her expectations: midterm, final, and project. She's also absolutely hilarious and shows videos in class all the time. I highly recommend her class.

Boydstun is a great lecturer! Lots of reading, and two BIG group projects/papers in the class. Super interesting during election season, also just a cool and supportive prof.

LOVING her 109 class. Concepts are big and abstract but she ties them to real world issues and I'm learning a ton.

Professor Boydstun is organized, knowledgeable, easy to follow and really funny. I have taken POL 109 & POL 165 with her and would highly recommend her. She posts her slides before class so you can easily follow along in class and take notes. Everything you need to know for the exams is covered in the slides and the readings. You won't regret it!

Professor Boydstun is by far the best professor I've had at UC Davis. She makes her lectures engaging and interesting. She makes you excited to attend lecture. You don't have to read if you attend lecture and pay attention.

She was very engaging and always stayed on top of her lectures. We watched a few movies in class but they were interesting. There was a project with an optional partner that was tedious but not terrible.

She is very passionate about what she does. Honestly the greatest professor Ive had so far. TAs gave good helpful advice for final. The class has a group presentation, optional parnter paper assignment, content analysis project, coding alignment, midterm and final. Read her articles, stay on top of her relatively easy slides, use TA. Do extra cred

I feel like I did not deserve an A in this class since I did not participate as much and wasn't as enthusiastic. First pol class that has other assignments other than a midterm/final and a paper. It actually has a project which is very helpful for the grades because everyone probably scored high

Boydstun is a wonderful professor! Good Interesting lectures. Make sure you participate (Answer a question every now and again) because even though it's a lecture hall she grades participation. Your grade is two exams, participation, an easy group powerpoint project, and a 3 part research project. The project is long, but it's common to get 100%.

First upper div pol class I've taken where most of your grade isn't weighted on your midterm (15%) and final (15%) you have 3 mini-projects/assignments that could potentially boost up your grade. Lectures are super interesting. No assigned textbook you have to buy, all readings are files on canvas.

POL165 is a great class and prof Boydstun is the perfect teacher for it! She is funny and passionate about the material, striking the right balance of fun and rigor. She is an absolute genius in the filed and has a great sense for dealing with very tricky topics. She is also crazy well organized, giving you the best possible chance to succeed.

This class was online so assignments were due every sunday. Quizzes every week, 3 big exams, and 3 big projects. Very heavy on content but the layout was nice. Professor is very lenient and understandable but be sure to stay on top of all assignments.

Super easy class. Kind of a lot of work, but it's all easy and well-explained by the professor.

POL 165V not POL 106! Amazing professor! She is truly passionate about her research which makes the class super intriguing. Only downside is the overall assignments which consist of 3 big projects, weekly quizzes, and 3 midterms. The CAP project was tedious and overall useless with no clear instructions. The TA's don't elaborate on their feedbacks.

She is a great professor, however, she does emphasize that her "online" course is supposed to have as much work as a regular course. Let me tell you, it is a LOT more than regular courses. Just be aware of that, however this may only be because the course was online, so if you have the chance to take her in person, try it out.

The content itself is not difficult but the class is not a light workload. There are 3 projects, 2 exams and quizzes every other week. Do nott work on the projects by yourself bc it’s a heavy workload. The lectures themselves are very organized, entertaining but heavily edited so pause as you please. Overall Boydstun is great professor!

Professor Boydstun is a great professor and is incredibly kind. This class however was a lot of work. It had so many assignments, way more than a typical upper div Poli sci class. It was all doable if you made sure to stay on top of things. Some assignments were graded rather harshly for no reason. Just beware of the heavy workload.

Awesome Professor. I am not a POL major, but she made class so much fun and she is such a delight. You can tell she cares about her students and she loves her job. Going in knowing next to nothing, I actually learned a lot. I would absolutely take her again if I was a POL major.

Dr. Boydstun is an incredibly sweet and gifted member of the political science department. Her lectures are entertaining and thorough, and make it such that you don't have to do all of the readings. Tests are on the easier side and papers are totally doable if you start early. Amazing professor, a must-take during your time at Davis!

Dr. Boydstun's class was one of the most engaging, difficult, and rewarding things that I have done. I learned so much in her class. Despite its difficulty, I cannot recommend it enough. Prepare to do a lot of work! If possible, do the projects in groups. Stay on top of your work. Take good notes. Watch the movies. Be careful on quizzes and exams.

I think Dr. Boydstun is great! She is so nice and makes class content informative while still being engaging and fun. She and the team of TA's are also very easy to contact for questions about the class. This class has been one of my favorite classes so far. Thank you Dr. Boydstun!

This class is really good. I enjoyed the online lectures and the podcasts that the Professor did. Just need to be regular, not that difficult and you'll learn a lot about the news and media in general. 100% would recommend.

Clear Lectures, the final project is a little bit difficult and it takes lots of time, but the instructions are very clear. Strongly Recommend!

Omg, I just adore Professor Boydstun! She's empathetic, smart and witty and her lectures are super entertaining. I think I've learned more in this politics class than any other class I've taken at UCD. She includes a lot of humor throughout the course and I just get a great vibe from her in general. 10/10 would take again!

BEST CLASS. So nice to be able to work as far ahead as you want. Easy to watch lecture videos. 4 quizzes, one midterm and one final, both super manageable. 2 short writing assignments. 1 final project broken down into 3 parts. Such a nice, relaxing course and the professor cares SO much about her students and their lives outside of the course.

The workload might seem a lot but it really isn't. The written assignments are manageable despite being somewhat long. Amazing professor and amazing lectures. Would take another class of hers again. Learned a lot in the class too.

While there were a good amount of assignments, they were overall pretty manageable. I really enjoyed her lectures and felt as thought I gained a lot of important insights from taking this class.

I took POL011a with Prof. Boydstun and it was an incredible experience. There is a lot of group work, but it makes your life so much easier. Although I severely disagreed with many of her political views, I still enjoyed her class for the most part. The TAs were incredible and you learn so much in the class without being overburdened.

Dr. Boydstun is a lovely human and an incredibly smart, adept teacher. She puts a lot of care into her curriculum, and all her classes are captivating and fun. She's a really good communicator, and she's so genuine and passionate, which makes the material easy to comprehend and learn. The class is heavy on groupwork, but it's fair and pretty easy.

Dr. Boydstun is amazing. I would love to take another one of her classes. Abundantly clear grading criteria, entertaining lectures, and reasonable expectations for workload. I took this class over summer with two hard sciences and found it to be a very fair schedule. Great GE for WE. The content was also very interesting and mentally stimulating.

Her class taught me so much, she did a phenomenal job for a starter like me. Lectures were of great quality (content + editing skills), and she is hilarious. We have 2 projects, 2 exam, and quiz every week. Exams are a bit hard but everything is from lecture, so take notes! I cannot recommend her enough! She is an amazing professor.

Favorite Class this Quarter! Dr. Boydstun is an amazing professor, easy and digestible video lecture material. A bit of group work which is or isn't advantageous depending on the cooperation. It was a nice class to sit down and enjoy. Dr. Boydstun is an amazing and understanding professor who fosters a great learning environment for everyone.

Caring and funny professor, very easy class. Graded solely on participation, quizzes, and group projects. Time is given to complete group work in class (Zoom), and asynchronous materials are given for weekly quizzes. The guest speakers each week were also always interesting and I gained a lot of perspective!

POL 165V - super easy class, extremely fascinating. I highly recommend her POL 165V class. The class is online completely and was asynchronous when I took it in summer 2024. Easy exams with 24 hours to take it. Easy quizzes. Easy assignments. Fun project to collect some data from two different news sites over 5 days and analyze the differences.

She is so awesome. Lecture videos were succinct but very high quality. No exams, just a weekly assignment + quiz and some short reflections at the end. So many opportunities for extra credit. You can tell she really cares about teaching and the student experience.

This is the 2nd class I've taken with Dr. Boydstun, and I enjoyed it even more than the 1st one! Her lectures are very thorough, and as long as you take good notes, you will do fine on the quizzes and exams. It was very neat to learn how to do content analysis, which is a major portion of your grade. Overall, a great class, just put in the effort!

Dr.Boydstun has perfected online teaching. She is organized, gives clear instructions and is super helpful.

Really nice. Listens to students. Very easy class. Offers extra credit. Must attend zoom meetings. Is unbiased. Fun class.

Awesome class and awesome teacher! Entertaining lectures + lots of group projects + quizzes + one self-reflection paper made up this class. There were a few miscellaneous extra-credit opportunities throughout the class as well.

Super easy course. Consists of mandatory Zoom meetings during class time (attendance is cross checked 3 different ways) which include time to work on group projects. Directions were a little unclear sometimes but she was always approachable for questions. Outside of class, there is a very straightforward weekly quiz based on the lectures she posts.

Took the online version of POL 1, incredibly easy simple straightforward class. The professor seems knowledgeable about the material, but I wouldn't say that I learned much. She really likes word of the day and tried to link some of the material to more current events. Very dependent upon your TA. Graded on only the midterm and final really.

I took her 6-week summer course, and she gave very little work. Her lectures are clear and easy to follow. Quizzes and exams are open-note with 24-hour time limits, making them very manageable. Overall, I highly recommend taking her class, it's straightforward and stress free.

boydstun is a overall great prof! the class mainly revolves around the group work with the group you're assigned to at the start of the class. i got lucky with an amazing group, and everything was super easy! work is graded fairly fast, there's a quiz due friday every week with 26 questions from lecture and guest speakers (weekly). 10/10!

The prof and TAs are amazing! The class is funny and interesting. It's super easy as long as you put in a decent amount of effort. Would 100% take again!

Dr. Boydstun was amazing! This is the first class I have taken in this subject and I loved it. Super interesting lectures and projects. Everything is online and asynchronous. Graded on a few projects and exams, all easy if you put some time into it. I learned so much valuable information from this course and will be recommending others take it.