He only teaches because no one else will pay to listen to his ramblings. Plus he gets royalities from forcing his students to buy his insipid books.

Well, the one positive thing I can say about this class is that it gave me an opportunity to do EVERY crossword puzzle in the New York Times and Washington Post all semester. If you know anything about anything, you'll be bored.

Freshmen beware... it's your first taste of the utter neglect you will face from most GW professors, who spend all of their time bragging about their own research projects and careers, and no time invested in you. Bring an interesting book with you to class.

Most boring experience of my life. I would bring magazines to class before I withdrew and changed my major. My friends would have coloring books and homework from other classes. Nau has a speech impediment and stutters so much; it's funny at first then it's irritating. I made a comment one day, and he yelled at me, but I was too busy ignoring him!

The most boring class ever! Nau can't even make coherant sentences; he stammers and stutters constantly. His lectures are just a reading of his slides which are on blackboard. His manuscript is a piece of**** and also blatant plagerism of the real textbook you read.

I spent the majority of time in this class doing both the Sudoku and Crossword puzzles from the Post. I was very interested in Int'l Affairs before this class but this class makes me want to run away screaming from it. The tests are a bit demanding (not impossible) and if you have a good TA you will most likely do alright.

ok, if ur TA doesnt take attendance, u dont need to show up bc everyting that nau talks about in class is on blackboard - i didnt come at class at the end bc i realized there there was not point. go to discussions. the TAs were cool. not many papers at all!! i hardly wrote anything for the class. just read 1 in a hwile and ull be ok.

A list of Do's and Don'ts: DO go to class once in a while - maybe he'll have a freakout session. DON'T read his manuscript. Ever. Stick to Nye. DO download the lectures. Helpful! DON'T go to the lecture if your TA doesn't take attendance. DO sit in the back if you can - naptime is a plus. DO go to class when it's a taped lecture - even Jeff l

Memorize the terms at the back of the chapter and you will get an A. As far as lectures, this is probably the most boring and useless class you will ever take. On the up side, think of it as a 50 minute nap in the middle of the day. Show up in case of quizes, then leave or do other homework. Tip: bring crosswords or sudoku's

Overfocused on his own manuscript; Did not address the course description; I liked him at first, but then I found him vain; you'll do well if you repeat his views back to him. He doesn't take the time to teach research skills, make you re-do papers, etc.

Henry Nau is quite possibly one of the most self-serving professors I have ever had. His textbook is inadequate- filled with typos and slanted opinions-and he lectures verbatim from the book. Its a shame this is a required course, its horrible. Your TA will make or break the class, I suggest Mema; if you care about IA, he will take you a long way.

Don't bother going to lecture unless your TA takes attendance - Nau rarely (if ever) says anything of importance or usefulness. Read the textbook instead, it's surprisingly really interesting and useful. You can't avoid it cause it's required so you might as well suck it up and deal with it.

He is very boring. He says the exact same things in lecture that are in the book and since he wrote the book you get bored very very easily. Pop quizzes are not that hard if you actually do the reading but the reading can be boring and even worse when re reguritates the information to you the next day.

Massive amounts of reading from the textbook he wrote. The information is repeated in class, minus the key parts that are on his pop quizzes that make both reading and attendence a must. He's a nice guy, but the class is boring, I'm seriously considering changing majors.

Smart person, bad teacher. Lectures are worthless if you read the book, but he assigns pop quizes to force you to listen to him. Assignments are vague and very objective - class should be called "Nau's Perspectives on International Relations". Get a good TA, because they grade.

Well it's not the worst class at GW but it's not exactly great either. Nau lectures verbatim from the textbook but unfortunately attendance is mandatory (lots of pop quizzes!) TAs are usually pretty good- I quite liked Mitchell. For the exam, memorize the terms word for word and you should be fine.

About as close as the Elliot School gets to hazing.

This class was a waste of time, credits, and money. I won't name names, but another professor at GW who teaches a similar subject told his class that Nau's IAFF is a waste of time, and the terms he uses are no longer relevant to modern International Affairs.

It is a joke that this class is mandatory for IAFF students. He only uses the book that he wrote himself, and talks about the history of his family for the entire class. Lots of pop quizzes, which sucks. Also midterm and final. I had Jason as a TA, who was definitely fair. Try and get a TA otherwise this class will be unbearable.

Nau's class is really not that hard if you do work, but he makes it difficult to want to do anything in this class. His lectures are dry and straight from the textbook, so you can skip class - except there are pop quizzes that he randomly throws out, so be careful. Honestly, your TA makes or breaks your grade, so pray you have a good one

One of the worst professors I've had. He lectures straight from the book, which he wrote himself, and it isn't even that good. He'll try to turn your answer around to make it his own, just so he can keep his own false superiority in that class.

Tries really hard to make the class interesting and attempts a few jokes every now and then, but overall it's a dread and your grade depends on your TA. The class focuses more on "the perspectives" opposed to the actual study of International Affairs. It's a requirement so just hold your breath and hope that you get a TA who will let you breathe.

This was the worst class that I have ever taken. Manages to avoid any relation to reality in the foetid morass that is his textbook. Pray that you will never be forced to understand the irony of the previous sentence.

Fail. He is a competent professor but just not well suited to be teaching an introductory course of this nature. He monologues about anything and everything, the end result being you learn next to nothing. Unfortunately this class is unavoidable as it's required for all Elliott students.

The class is really boring. Lecture attendance is mandatory because of pop quizzes; vocabulary from the book margins and lectures slides are best study materials. Also depends on your TA because the TAs grade everything. Unfortunately, all Elliott students must take it so there is no way to get out of it.

Lectures are meaningless. He repeats what was in the book, and he doesn't add anything. Your grade and interest in this class is dependent solely on your TA. I had an awesome TA who was a fair grader and helped us understand the course. Other TAs though seemed to hate being there and were unfair graders.

he's really unclear, goes on power trips and brags about his career and experience. he'll put you to sleep but show up to class for the pop quizzes. don't rely on him to learn anything just do the readings, oh and he also wrote the book for the class so he always references himself. it's annoying and it's basically up to what TA you get cause they can really make or break you.

The fact this class is our introduction to IA seems like a cruel joke. Nau's smart, but incapable of objectivity. The textbook should be retitled, "A Neoconservative View of the World, and Why Ronald Reagan is and Always Will Be, the Love of My Life." Mark is a chill TA, but this class is a huge waste of time/effort. Try to take PSC 3 instead.

Be prepared for a waste of your time. Go to class for no other reason then pass the pop quizzes. Your grade will be entirely based around the TA you have, always check to see who's the TA for your discussion and ask around for reputation.

Nau knows a lot about the topic but he often rambles in lecture and his textbook is relatively disorganized. Make sure you get a good TA like Shannon or Mark if you want to do well in this class and be prepared for a lot of busy work. If you can, try to take PSC 3 instead.

Nau is to academia what his hero Regan was to politics.Enough Said.

I still do not understand that Elliott School lists the class as a mandatory introductory course. Though definitely not for me to judge, the stuff Nau talks about is, if I may use the word, "unscientific," as we used deductive reasoning throughout the course (perspectives, LoA, etc.) but seldom inductive. Not at all intellectually challenging.

Nau sucks, enough said. He sucks and lecturing and honestly just makes things more difficult than they actually are. Don't get Brett as a TA, he is almost just as bad. Go for Mark or Varun. If you can take PSC 3. This is a waste of time and money.

Just read the textbook. Classes are absolutely pointless yet required for a few pop quizzes. Painful to get through, especially with either an 8:00 or 9:35 in the morning yet you WILL be happy when you are done.

Pros: Nau is well connected in the DC political community and a great teacher if you get him to notice to you. Cons: He rambles about his book, has lectures out of his book, doesn't post powerpoints online quickly and the TAs do most of the grading or work. The TAs make or break whether you do well in the class. But overall the work is not hard.

The WORST class you will ever take. Nau's lectures are awfully boring. He wrote the books yet doesn't know what is in them. Most discussions for this class are at 8am or 9.35 on Friday, which is absolutely awful. The TAs and Nau have all designed the class to make you fail and they don't try to help at all. This class makes you question you major.

Professor Nau is a very smart individual when it comes to International Affairs, but that does not mean this class is good. The material will be repeated threefold: the textbook (which he wrote, and will make sure you remember), in lecture when he's not flipping out, and in discussion. Pay attention to one of the three and you will do fine.

Henry Nau could be a legendary professor in the Elliott School and for all ESIA students. IA5 is basically an one semester preparatory class for ESIA. It intends to teach you the methods to analyse based on Nau's book. Unfortunately, he wasn't an interesting professor in terms of teaching. But the terms are very useful for further study and reading

Professor Nau should be a good scholar because of his credentials. However, he is a terrible professor. He rambles on random topics (like his book that he is reading), and is not a good speaker. He puts his first page of his powerpoint up, but then doesn't go through it at all. In all, it is a waste to attend class.

Read the textbook. Final is cumulative. Very boring class... One midterm, one final, a long research project (paper), oral presentation in discussion. Reader was useless

Poor professor with poor teaching skills, most of his lectures were rants about his personal interests. Discussion section will be the only thing that saves you. Not even worth going to class, just read the textbook.

Nau is very passionate about the subject, but he just spends all his lectures ranting about whatever he wants. Most of the time he will prepare a slideshow and not move off the title page.

You'll realize that Nau is an extremely knowledgeable professor, but you'll wonder how on earth he was relegated to teach a freshman intro course. He rambles in lecture when he needs to be specific, somehow kills all interesting aspects of the topics, and never posts his powerpoints on BlackBoard (though he doesn't use in class, anyways).

Nau is a smart guy with a vast knowledge of history...but he has poor teaching skills. When I say poor I mean non-existent. I don't think the poor class was entirely his fault though...GW needs to seriously reconstruct the IAFF-1005 course so at least some topics can be covered in a meaningful way. You should get an A in this class.

Look, he's not a good professor - half the time, you'll have no idea what he's talking about - but the class is incredibly easy and you can just sit there on your laptop while he rambles on at the front of the room.

Took PAW with Nau and somehow got an A after a semester of his right leaning rants, multiple choice tests that go up to J, and a lot of repetitive reading. If you can stomach that and really enjoy international schools of thought and conflict, take the class. If not, look to fulfill this requirement elsewhere. Silver lining: does have nice stories.

Prof. Nau is an interesting guy who has had a very amazing political career, especially having worked in Reagan's Administration. His class is graded on three MC exams and one small paper. The MC exams are 20 questions with A B C D E F G H I J answers so even if you do the readings, you can easily be screwed. He roasted students if they deserved it

He is very abrasive and extremely arrogant even more so than your typical professor his age. Dont care about his politics and I actually lean conservative so this isnt because hes a far right winger - he truly is just an abrasive, rude guy who doesnt care much about his students. The class itself is easy enough and not difficult.