2.5
Quality2.7
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake113
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
113
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
14
4
17
3
24
2
33
1
25
What Students Say
“Not always easy, and attendance is crucial”
HIST15AB - 4.0 rating“you dont have to go to her class, i had her for 2 semesters”
HIST1 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.30 avg changeRatings by Course
190
5.0
(1)FRESHMANCLASS
5.0
(1)POLS2
5.0
(1)POLICOMP
5.0
(1)POLS15
4.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
POLISCI15A
5.0
HIST04
5.0
POLS140
4.0
POLI15AB
4.0
HIS15B
4.0
Reviews (113)
Not the best in the Poly Sci department. Feminist man hater. But nonetheless was very academic and knew her stuff.
Femme Nazi Chic. Tests are very hard, lectures are boring, and she hates everyone who does not love Europe.
I don't recommend her. She spends the whole class explaining her opinions on political and world topics. Her papers aren't too hard to do as long as you write what she wants to read.
Strong economic and feminist perspective. Claims her opinions are facts, but when I have challenged her she was able to support her position with published literture. May be difficult for people with differing political views, but otherwise a rewarding
Boring lectures. Advocates her own personal viewpoints and opinions as the only thing that matters in the world. Easy since only 2 essays. Don't waste money on her stupid ass kinko's copied book.
Very feminist and hates men and is very pesimistic. Has some of the strangest views on our society and accepts them as if they were the truth. Her essays are pretty difficult since she does not make it clear what she wants.
Don't buy her book, don't go to her lecture and write papers you thinks she'd wanna read (most papers were opinion based, just make sure you take a strong stance, she likes that.
Dont buy the her red book, as a matter of fact dont buy any of her books. The lectures are a waste, because all she does is preach her hypothesis on society. she is not a credible political scientist so someone please tell her to shut up!
Dont buy her stupid red book because it's a waste of money and nothing but bias opinions. It's ridicolous that she charges 20 bucks for the **** book. If you want good grade in this class, make sure to write a paper on what she wants to hear and not opini
Don't buy her book or her book for class and don't bother going to lecture. Essays are easy to bs since they're basically opinions. Wouldn't recommend her.
Completely deluded about the structure of the world. Her politics get in the way of everything, and she even manages to (even somewhat convincibly) change history to suit her needs. Presents fantasy as fact.
The class is based on her opinions and watch out if you disagree. Your grade in this class will be directly influenced by your level of socialist indoctrination. If you are anything but an extreme enviro-feminist, watch out for this class!
Don't try and disagree with her, no matter how right you are she won't bother trying to see things from anyone else's perspective. Never cites her sources but pulls them out of you know where. Waste of time and the University's money.
This woman is a terrorist. I voiced my opinion during a lecture one day and she wouldn't even listen to me. She is anti-Republican, anti- SUV, anti-consumerism, anti-reality T.V., anti-men and basically anti-American culture. Don't take her class!!!
this teacher is highly educated and will give you some of the best lectures you will ever have in college. although she does advocate her opinions quite often, it is always good to be open minded to new ways of thinking. she is brilliant, read the book.
Good teacher. Always helpful. I don't know why all these wackos made all these negative comments.. but then again, most people in my class are wackos. She's opinated, but she does have great points. I learned a lot in her class.
I don't know how all of these people can write this much about Dorabji...it's a chore to stay and listen to her, or stay awake, or even go in the first place. There are no tests on her half of the course, and her essays are fairly easy.
Truly the capstone of my education, this Profesor has an easy style and gives ample time for those who disagree to state thier opinions. She is highly intelligent and well informed.
If you share her beliefs and parrot them back back to her on papers and tests you will do fine. If you disagree with her unsubstantiated, left-wing, babble - her classes can be difficult. She did not create an atmosphere conductive to learning.
While it is true that her left-wing attitude comes across a bit strong, I think she is an over-all good professor. If you are liberal, you will get an A!
Presents her discertation in 1st semester, then teaches poli sci in 2nd. Books are unrelated, lectures are preachy and assignments are annoying. The bane of poli sci department and completely useless.
A little bit scary. She spends her lectures discussing what she feels is wrong with America. Each class period is kind of like a Michael Moore documentary, although Lord knows not everyone appreciates Michael Moore. Yeah, the electoral college is dumb.
Most of the lectures are about how white men make all the decisions in our country, we don't pay teachers enough, everyone should vote, and how numerous other complaints that she has about our country. She should just leave if it is that bad for her!!!
This left-wing nut-job might actually be insane. Only gives her opinion w/ no facts. All classes are the same. Bad Anthro, bad Econ, & bad History but nothing in lectures about Pol Sci because she has NO knowledge base. She is personally denying some students a Pol Sci education.
Her lectures never seem to tie into the history part of the class. Also, she has a tenendency to totally abandon the initial subject just to toot her horn about how disfunctional society is. Did I mention that she can't teach and is very unclear about assignments...well she is.
Class is easy as hell if you dont get an A you have a problem. But be warned by the end of the year you will have an incredible desire to punch her in the face! Don't do it!
Absolutely wonderful instructor. Very engaging. Classes are full of interesting discussions. In general, she is a wondeful professor that I would definitely not mind taking again.
Horrible, horrible teacher. She will put you to sleep by the end of her opinionated lectures. She thinks she is the greatest. Thinks our society is a failure. Very liberal, use her thoughts on her assignments, then you will get a good grade. Final is a take home paper, based on your opinions.
long lectures. u dont have to listen to her lectures to pass the class. she rants of subject tough grader. however if she knows ur name things get easier. doesnt give a lot of homework. semester projects. book reports etc. very liberal hates MEN!! lol
****,(she hates men!) materialistic, and thinks that she is the smartest person in the world.(direct quote) She is hard and annoying. 3 hard essays. There was only one plus... no midterm and a take home final!
i dont know, shes very opionated... but that makes an interesting teacher. gave lots of extra credit assignments and approachable to redo essays. fair grader and i like her a lot. she got me interested in polisci.
A very left-wing and opinionated polisci professor.Attended Berkeley,ultra-feminist,and extremely anti-Bush.But VERY interesting lectures,cares a lot about subject material, and best of all minimal work-load.No real midterm or final,3 papers,and thats it!Dont bother w/the books.Not easy,but not hard
Great teacher. Really makes you think about the stuff that goes on in our society. Very interesting and humorous lectures. She fights for the middle and lower class. Hates men? Nah...
nice teacher,but found it hard to stay awak in class ... essays lil tough...grading
found it hard to stay awake in class... final take-home and midterm.
Fiscally moderate/conservative Socially liberal Unfortunately, most students in the class can't seem to figure this out. Well, that's SJSU for ya.. Very interesting professor.
Easy class but if you want to learn anything don't bother. All her information comes from the internet. She has no idea what she is talking about.
She has interesting background information, but her book is way too biased "Betrayal" to be used as an actual text book. Be ready to filter out information during her lecture because she tends to go off on tangents. Over all, she is still interesting to learn from.
An excellent professor that facilitated some great class discussions. Assignments were very conducive to learning the subject, yet very general, allowing the student a great deal of freedom in doing the research. Might seem opinionated at times, but her Ph.D. gives her such a right. Would take again
Teaches you what to think, not how to think. Her class is nothing but a stage for her propogate her personal politics so far left leaning, it hardly even registers on the political spectrum. Has no regard for student oppinion and gets irritated by any dissention to her rediculous political ideas.
I couldnt stay awake in her class. She always goes off topic. It was an easy class to never have to attend and get a good grade. Just read and do the essays.
ONE OF THE GREATEST CLASS I EVER HAD! She knows what her stuff and if you have the decency to stay awake and turn your brain on, you will understant her easily. Her assignments make you think and accually give you a challenge. I wish more professors were like her. She tells you how it is.
She's very opinated... duh. but she gets you thinking, and wants everyone to be active politically. she taught me lots of things i didn't know
If you don't put her exact opinions on the essays you get marked down. I am a liberal, but sheesh this chick is way farther than me. Her book "betrayal" is poorly written/organized and quotes from a lot of questionable sources. Just regurgitate what she says and you'll do fine.
She is extremely opinionated! If you take notes on her lectures you should have no problem writing the essays. Just write about exactly what she states in lecture.
Teaches personal politics instead of how government functions. note essays on who you are voting for with topics showing personal bias.
very opinionated but i think thats standard for polisci. i enjoyed her opinions and felt her lectures were very organized. i never had a problem following her.
She is such a horrible teacher, especially if you're not a Green Party liberal.
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Awful teacher. Makes up "facts", but easy if you just write what she says in class verbatim on her tests
Can't remeber the class number but loved it, very interesting woman.
very political professor. has a few essays but grades very fairly. boring class though!!!
told me to drop out of school, not the best teacher, if you have her views then you will do fine, other than that it was a drag!
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Nice teacher. Clearly a radical, but is able to support her views with logical arguments. Fair grader. May come off as offensive, but actually a very nice person.
horrible teacher. she is a raging liberal and loves to show it. she isn't interested in listening to any view points that aren't her own. very boring class. loves to listen to herself talk. no tests, just a few essays. in essays she doesn't want to read your thoughts. as long as you regurgitate everything she lectures about, you'll get an A.
by far the worst professor ive ever had. i was thinking of minoring in poli sci but she convinced me otherwise. she has no interest in teaching and gives ridiculous assignments. one assignment required us to write a page and she gave us a whole month to do it! talk about low expectations. shes an easy teacher if u can put up with listening to her
Really didn't like her first sem, but by 15B she was actually pretty cool. Just show up to lectures, write the way she thinks, which is pretty convincing and interesting, and you'll do fine. She lectures on some boring things, but other than that she can be interesting and helpful about current issues. Seems hard, but actually isn't.
For hist15A I got a bad grade because of the research paper. She require a lot of proof to back up your position. For 15B I did a lot better since the papers were only 1 pg and are easy topics. Bad thing about her: she talks about her life/family and goes off topic often. Very boring and unclear. Rambles constantly.
shes really fair and shes understanding but she is not an easy grader. She gives you a second chance and extra credit to make up your grade however. Shes not too bad as long as you make it to all her classes.
She's okay...passionate about her subject...we never really had to use our books, which made me mad cause she ask for like 4 books so that was a waste of money...also her grade depends on only 2 papers which sucks
Grade based on three short papers. The first was research on US involvement in Iraq. The second was the fairness of the US Constitution before the amendments. The third was what we learned in the class that we didn't know prior to taking the class. As a political science professor, she has strong opinions. It is very interesting to listen to her.
OMG. This teacher was awful. She never came to class, and when she did was so scattered I couldn't figure out what she was talking about. I saw tons of students sleeping throughout the class and she constantly talked about donating to this radio station she loves. She had nothing to really base our grades on, so it seems she made them up. Awful!
Great instructor; taught from awkward angles in order to get students to think from different perspectives. Some very interesting opinions. She's not necessarily a hard grader as long as you attend class regularly and take good notes. Definitely worth taking. She can be very helpful if you talk to her after class.
she is a HARDCORE LIBERAL and will grade your paper very badly if you have an opposing view. about 50% of the class falls asleep during her lectures but maybe this is because she just keeps on making anti-bush statements. overall she is the worst prof i've ever had but i would still take her in HIS15A/B because prof underdal is really good!!
Awesome instructor. Clearly a liberal, however, it's difficult to remain neutral on a moving train. Gets the class to think from different perspectives using different frameworks. Unfortunately, many people can't appreciate this. Can be critical of government. Not necessarily a hard grader. Would definitely take again
She is very nice and can be funny. Her lectures are interesting if you pay attention and are interested in the topic. She grades her papers very hard, which is bad because that is all you are graded on. She is very one sided and often contradicts herself. SHe also uses her own book she wrote.
If a biased education is what your seeking... look no further! Her class is based upon all of her assumptions, granted she has a doctorate, but when she quoted Michael Moore the first day I knew the class was going to be ridiculous. I completely lost interest when she implied that the industrial revolution was a conspiracy of businesses seeking to
This teacher is crazy. She talks about how we as americans don't do things like we use too and how we should all go back to the stone age.She thinks we as americans never talk about politics and problems yet..we actually do, all the things she says she links to history, somehow if you think about it, its ludacris all of her rash generalizations
She was a terrible Political Science teacher. Normally I really like Pilitical Science, but not with her. She is extremely liberal, and has not problem hiding it. Grade based on three papers, that are graded terribly hard.
Class is easy if you agree with her in every manner. Going to class and buying her textbooks will be absolutely pointless as you wont be using it.
Her political science class is purely based on essays. She grades extremely hard and expects you to use her ideas in your papers.
Yes, she is a biased feminist neo-nazi. Her viewpoint is interesting though. Midterm and Final were take home. Essay's were take home. Lots of opportunity for extra credit. Her tests are biased however, and reflect her opinions. If you want to pass, incorporate what she says in her lectures verbatim in your papers.
This professor is extremely liberal and usually runs on a tangent. Grades alright, hardly uses the books that she assigns, and going to lecture is mandatory to even score a C on the final.
After 20+ years of being a student one becomes expert at identifying instructors' strengths and weaknesses. Dorabji is not weak in any way, In fact she is one of the most influential instructors I have ever met. I highly reccomend her course. Not only is she passionate about Comparitive Politics but she is informed on this subject like no other.
Very hard, very liberal. Go to class, pay attention and read her book. Class is based on her opinions, so incorporate them into your essays.
VERY liberal. Must buy texts because there is usually an essay on each book. Other than that her lectures are useless; only had one exam on her lecture and most people didn't do well on it. She does respond to emails quickly though which is nice but skip the lectures! Fairly easy class if you can stand listening to her and writing liberal papers
Worst professor EVER! Students have no voice. You have to agree with her in order to pass her class. She hates men and isn't afraid to say it. Very Liberal, not in a good way. I have learned nothing about Political Science. The only positive thing is there is not a ton of work and the midterm and final are take home.
Worlds Worst professor. Lectures are long and boring no visual aids, She assigns three essays and grades them based on her opinion. everything is based on her opinion. if you don't agree with what she believes you wont pass. midterm and final are take home,but not easy! I would recommend finding a different professor. be warned don't take her class
not a good teacher but easy to pass i RECOMMED taking her just because her class is easy. here is how to pass her course 1)buy the steven hill book 10 steps because there is a whole paper based on it 2)go to lecture because every paper and test question is based on her opinion so whether or not you agree with her you will pass if you agree with her
Ahh! this teacher is so hard! take home test,but they are super hard.Boring class. If you have no interest in political science,don't take her.
There is a sneer behind every way she presents ideas that she does not agree with. She is very liberal, and does not hide it well. She is not receptive to ideas that do not agree with her own. For the first three weeks she talked about anthropology instead of PoliSci. Find another section!!!
word cannot explain how bad this teacher is. lectures are very boring and she expects you to agree with everything she says. EXTREMELY opinionated and if you don't agree with her you will fail the class. she thinks shes so cool because shes from santa cruz, and says "joe six pack" to make herself sound super smart and unique. i hate her so much.
To be honest, her lectures do require a sense of intellectual opinion and understanding. But the class is POLITICAL SCIENCE. This class was one of my favorites, I gained the most insight out of all my classes at SJSU. Everyone complains that you only pass if you agree with her. if you PAY ATTENTION,you'll pass.This is solid education, not an easy A
Terrible teacher. I couldn't believe some of the things she was saying. If your a woman, you will love her class. Now I have nothing against woman, but she talks about men like they are just savages that don't do anything in the world but take money. Her class was like listening to Hitler justify WWII. And btw she makes you buy her $20 book.
DOnt take her!!!!
Very liberal which is fine by me, but not when you're lecturing about general ideas of politics. She loves making up statistics to make her points sound more concrete. The midterm and final are take home but definitely not easy. There are also a couple of short essays which aren't too bad. Try to avoid her if possible.
I cannot even begin to explain how horrible this class has been this semester. I have never had a teacher who talked about such nonsense that does not relate to political science at all. For the entire first half of the semester all she talked about was babies! Avoid taking 15B with her if you can!!!!
Has no intent of teaching her students, she wants to indoctrinate them. she constantly shoves her opinions down her students throats and she only teaches one side of a topic. here's a DIRECT quote from her, "The Constitution is unimportant! do not say that word in my classroom! It is JUST a piece of paper." She's by far the WORST teacher i've had.
I hated sitting through her lectures because I feel like she is always contradicting what she is saying. Her midterms are always take home but they are hard! I would sit in class and listen but the midterm is a bunch of mumble jumble. Her portion of the class I felt was ridiculous and I do not reccommend her.
I feel that her lectures are really unhelpful and always about something not related to Pol. Sci. Her exams are take home, but you have to read all the assigned readings she gives you or you wont do well. You won't learn what you need to learn about pol. sci. My advice, don't take her class.
This sums up everything you need to know..."guys suck as parents, moms rock, kids need better quality socialization" Her class is easy though. Just use her opinions to answer everything. Your thoughts dont count in this class. He essays are very short and easy. Litteraly she graded my whole essay in under 10 seconds and gave me an A. It's hilarious
If you want to learn anything about poli sci, don't take from her.Lectures were about child development and a pain to sit through. Gets very angry easily.Midterm and final are take home, and are based entirely off of the textbooks(so, nothing in her lectures).There were 2 short essays that are easy as long as you write her opinions only. Bleh.
She is the worst teacher I ever had. This class is hard and unorganized!!
Not always easy, and attendance is crucial. Interesting, thought-provoking lectures that require you to use your brain (which is why I assume most others rated her so lowly), but this is college, and we should be using our minds, shouldn't we? Two short papers and take home midterm/final. Questions can be tricky, but plenty of time given.
So bad that 3 years after taking her class I thought about her and felt compelled to comment. She devoted complete lectures to child development in a US hist/pols course. Completely politically biased. Very open about her divorce, personal problems, low salary, etc.Easy A or B if you can regurgitate her views of the world onto a bluebook.
Her materials may be biased but they present stuff that we should know. I wish her "betrayal" was alittle more professionally published.
If you are actually interested in political science, find another prof. She teaches her opinions as facts, devotes entire lectures to irrelevant topics, and her "final project" belongs in a child development class, not PolySci. If you want an easy "A" though she's perfect: it's easy to skip her lectures and pass by regurgitating her views.
I never went to her class because if I did, I would get suicidal thoughts. She is overly liberal and makes it known. She would even insult God and religion in her classes. Idk why she's not fired yet; she's a horrible teacher! Her class was so pointless, she literally talked about nothing for the entire time. Open-note exams and two papers.
Extremely liberal. A feminist and much more. Although, I disagreed with her personal views her class was very easy. I barely attended her class and got a B. She assigns two easy papers. And a take home midterm and final. They're easy too if u just think the way she would.
Professor Dorabji is VERY opinionated and doesn't accept to consider any other opinions in her discussions. She rambles doesn't really have any structure to the class. Then has hard graded assignments. Pretty boring but then again you don't need to go unless there is an assignment due.
I can't stand this teacher. She has no problem insulting people. No point going to her class b/c she will just make you want to throw a book at her. Two papers, two tests. Write her point of view for an A. Tests are take home and so pointless, answers are in her book though. I did not learn anything about political science in her class.
As everybody has said, EXTREMELY opinionated. Had her for History 15A/B, she seemed to have gotten even more opinionated the second time I took her. Regurgitate her views on her tests and essays and you'll do fine, otherwise, find somebody else.
She teaches her opinion on the subject matter, not the contents in the book. You are still expected to read the book though for her exams. Her exams contain questions pertaining to her opinion and the text. Her class is very hard. One paper, midterm, and a final. Few extra credit chances worth hardly any points.
you dont have to go to her class, i had her for 2 semesters. you do need her betrayal book!! once you understand her opinions which are slightly ridiculous you dont have to attend class because everything is take home! 90% of her lectures dont have to do with polysci. easy grader though
funny thing is that i find that because there are mostly young green underclass students they have not yet grasped that the world is inverted. her critique of our society is radical but it is fairly accurate from my stand point. her paper is so easy yet the students refuse to follow her simple instructions.
really opinionated but if you reiterate her stances on papers shes an easy grader. dont try and really argue with her, just keep her book and youll do fine
This instructor is infinitely opinionated. Rarely, if ever, is a conservative or contrasting view given due consideration. In fact, conservative ideas and even conservatives themselves are often demonized. Furthermore, this instructor creates an environment wherein appropriate discussion of important topics are not encouraged.
She is very strong voiced, so be ready for competitive arguments with her. Don't even take her, especially if you dont have to, because her take home midterms and finals are pretty tough. On the bright side, she grades the essay rather easily and overall I enjoyed her lectures because I was one of the only ones who challenged her in class.
Im sorry but this may be one of the most unorganized and confusing classes I have ever taken. Aside from her opinion-based lectures and tests, Prof. Dorabji is terrible at communicating with students in all forms. Definitely search for better instructors when taking this course...
This class was very confusing. She didn't use notes or power points. You had to pay attention to her lectures which are not clear sometimes. She didn't assign much work but does give take home tests.
I took this class a a few years ago. She has strong opinions, but you can't say she doesn't know what she's talking about. She is a very informed and educated person. Looking back at her book "Betrayal" now I see more of the course's value. At the time I resented having to buy her book in order to complete the final paper. Its worth re-reading.
Class Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.30 avg changeRatings by Course
190
5.0
(1)FRESHMANCLASS
5.0
(1)POLS2
5.0
(1)POLICOMP
5.0
(1)POLS15
4.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
POLISCI15A
5.0
HIST04
5.0
POLS140
4.0
POLI15AB
4.0
HIS15B
4.0