Challenging and reflective. His classes are a real eye-opener.

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Very high standards with lots of reading. Very clear and helpful though.

This guy gives you the goods.You'd better be ready to carry the load.

Lots of fun to watch

Seemed pretty cool. And I got a lot out of his course.

A genius in his own mind

He gave a good review of elementary concepts

Good prof - kept me up at 9AM! Demands lots but knows his stuff

Simply the best

Challenging, but my favorite POL class yet. Awesome lectures.

WOW. So smart. A lot of readings, but also a lot to say. Take this course.

Great prof, definitely made me interested in poli-sci. funny too! he writes as he talks so you can keep up with his lecture.

super smart

excellent!

Very clear and consise - his notes are great too.

very dynamic however, usually unavailable for consultation ie. always in a hurry to leave. He also is a very difficult marker.

Damn good prof! Knows his material thoroughly, a fair marker, and excellent at provoking debate.

hes really cool and fun to talk to. he really knows his stuff and for an intro class he made it fun

he practically tells you what's going to be on the midterm! gives out sheets with definitions, all you have to do is know those and you'll get an A on the tests. overall, interesting and passionate prof, seems strict, but it's only on the outside!

Very good, one of the best profs. I have ever had. Very clear and lectures are always interesting. I would highly recommend!!

Near-illegible writing, which is a definite problem, but that's basically the only one. He'll seem really gruff on the first day, but his bark is worse than his bite. He likes to listen to the ideas of the people in his class.

Interesting opinion that Politics can be understood like a hard science (which presonally I don't agree with). Intersting background, ok prof, nothing bad to say about him

he doesn't try to trick you on exams, so your never suprised and know exactly what your going to be tested on. he hints on the essay topics all throughout lectures, so if your listening, you definatley will not be suprised when finals come around!

Busumtwi-Sam is a high quality prof. His detailed notes rendered doing readings virtually useless. He comes off as being a bit of a hardass after the first lecture but after a few lectures he lightens up and is interesting to listen to.

Very nice professor, makes jokes and usually answers questions. Notes and tutorial readings are key during exams.

Teacher is awesome. He writes out all the notes for you on the overhead at the perfect speed. He also gives out an outline for the exams. You don't have to read the text, but it is easy to read. He makes getting an good grade easy. THE TA'S SUCK! They don't know what they're doing or how to teach!

very clear, although his handwriting is not. He understands that his notes are hard to read and makes sure everyone fully undrestands what is written. He is passionate about the subject and he always finds a way to bring in a little humour. Overall he seems really nice.

hilarious guy who can laugh at himself. again, handwriting and spelling are major issues:) however, he makes everything very clear and makes sure that he says what he is writing. also, he's good with questions.

he is a knowledgeable professor and very enthusastic about the subject. There should be a ratemyTA. The TA I had for this course marked extremely hard and unreasonably. Horrible experience with TA this semester!!!

Great Prof. Exam is long though. find it hard to finish within the time limit. but prof is really good. i don't like the class, but i guess that's just b/c i don't like poli sci.

Pretty good prof. Talked to him once but was just asking to how to pronounce his name. If you have a prob with accent and ugly writing, don't even try. Not a lot of online help. But he can really teach. Hard to fall asleep in his class. Tests ARE LONG!! watch out. TAs are crap, can't mark.

excellent prof. makes good use of lectures, but handwriting is atrocious. still, he makes potentially confusing material very clear. also very clear on essay expectations and what to review for exams. not too approachable, always seems busy. hope for a good TA!

Great prof, his lectures were really fun. His overhead notes are at a great pace and are all you really need for tests.. I don't even know why I bought the text. The paper topics were pretty interesting. You can sort of tell where he lies politically. I liked his accent, made notetaking challenging.

best prof. to teach pol 100 so far from my opinion, great guy, amazing lecture notes, everything needed for midterms and finals, u get a good idea of whats gonna be on it from what he says, bad handwriting though, but hes a great prof.

Lectures and notes are extremely clear. Very interesting discussions in class. Tells you exactly what's in the exams. But they are long, so watch out for time. Don't bother with the textbook, his notes will suffice. Great prof!

Awesome prof! Very clear (though bad hand-writing lol) and made even boring topics interesting. My TA was great by the way and I didn't find the marking THAT hard.

Great Prof, one of the best I've had, enjoys teaching, has great sense of humour and is very knowledgable. Definatly has messy writing but his lecture is at a good pace. Recommended and he uses the same course material from semester to semester so you can probably get the courseware used.

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He really knows his stuff and his tests are easy enough b/c he tells you what's on them. He makes the material very comprehendable...you don't even need the textbook because his notes include anything you need to know. The only complaint about him is his messy handwriting :( Oh, and my Ta was dumb.

SAM IS ONE OF THE BEST PROFF'S I HAVE EVER HAD. HE SURE KNOWS HIS STUFF! HE ALSO HAS AN EXCELLENT ABILITY IN RELYING THE MATERIAL SO THAT STUDENTS CAN GAIN A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF PERTINENT TOPICS IN THE COURSE. PAPER TOPICS ARE HARD. HIS TA'S ALSO MARK HARD. IF YOU NEED EXTRA HELP, IT'S AVAILABLE.

If you appreciate a prof who actually organizes lectures and reveals interest in the course material, take a class from this prof. Very intelligent, very knowledgeable, approachable in terms of asking questions during class. A+.

He is a nice professor. What was good about his course was that he would explain the concepts and write out the notes we needed, so we knew for sure what he was going to focus on for his exams.

A very charming fellow. He gives lectures with a passion and intensity that really makes attending enjoyable. He also tries to get the class involved as much as possible, and never talks down to us- a welcome change! I must say though, the class I took was agonizingly long. Even his charms start to wear off after three hours.

by far the best course i've ever taken, and the best prof i've ever had. lectures were extremely loaded with info, but not presented in such a way that it was overwhelming. term paper was heavy (15 pages) but topics were appropriate to the length. take-home final, which was easy.

This course was great! He's a wonderful lecturer and doesn't belittle anyone for their input. I highly recommend this particular professor.

The BEST prof ever!

James is the best professor at SFU. I love his passion for Poli Sci... If you get the chance, take his classes!!!! He will work you but he's amazing and makes learning enjoyable.

This prof knows his stuff and is very enthusiastic about teaching. He runs a tight clas but is very knowledgable and clealry cares about the students. An inspiring prof.

Crystal clear; so much that by merely regurgitating what he said in lecture, you will NOT do well on the exam. You must understand his ideas and then engage them intelligently, and by requiring this, James makes you think for yourself. You WILL learn a lot from him; he is demanding, and because of this, you will come away from his class smarter.

Intimidating class at first, but Busumtwi-sam is extremely helpful when you ask for his assistance. Lectures were interesting - but long - and you'll come out of this class having learned something.

Bring lots of paper or a computer with a large hard drive. Be sure to sit at the front or close enough to hear everything. Dont be afraid to ask him to repeat things as he can get into a topic and go for an hour non stop. ALL if it is Testable! The course material doesn't seem to be as important as his lecture notes. Not an easy "A" but youll learn

Excellent lecturer

He was the most inspiring professor I had though out university - brilliant professor

James is an incredible lecturer. It's like watching Morgan Freeman and Forest Whitaker. I was hoping for an A mark, but received a B mark. Pol Sci is not my major, but I did try my best.

Dr. James is a very knowledgeable rof who makes you think critically and outside the box

One of the best professors in the department, in my opinion. Really knows his stuff, and is very helpful (if you can sum up the courage to approach him). Don't expect an A+ though, unless you are flawless in all components of the class. Finally, don't think of sucking up to him because it is pointless. He expects you to work hard for your grade!

I took this course online but he put a lot more work into it than other profs. He filmed his lectures & posted them online which helped enormously. He did expect us to do readings and post weekly answers to his discussion questions but almost all my online courses require that. I would have gotten a higher mark but I didn' finish the weekly posts

Most passionate prof I've ever had. He lives much of the year in Ghana so he has a first hand approach to much of the issues discussed in the course. He gives a clear cut definition of many things, and really forces you to think critically in his lectures rather than just write down definition. Highly recommend his classes!

a dynamic lecturer who will challenge to get beyond your comfort zone in comprehending the subject

Not as bad as what others say. The course content is very direct and as long as you can read and comprehend the course notes, you'll do fine.

James won't give out easy As but if you do the work critically and participate in lecture you'll do great.

He is friendly with marking and knows how to teach. The best!!!

James teaches the course in a straightforward way and is very nice to his students. He also keeps the class engaged and thinking about international theories and concepts.

His classes are fun and engaging.

Amazing prof, very nice with the marks. Learnt a lot from him. He is fun

Took 2 classes with him which were moved online due to Covid-19, could tell he was very out of his element teaching over Zoom but he really made the best of it and managed to make the classes engaging. Super knowledgeable prof and great lecturer, still hoping I can take an in person class with him before I graduate.

His lectures are very interesting and you can tell he is passionate about the subject. This makes his 4 hour evening seminars engaging and encourages interesting in class discussions. Unfortunately, the course material is incredibly difficult and he assigns an impossible amount of weekly reading. Hardest class I've ever took.

One of the best professors at SFU for polisci. I've had James 2x before and im in the middle of my 3rd course w/ him. Is super chill (even in a 400-level course), also kind and approachable. He uses the exact same grade weight in all of his classes so you know what to expect. Lectures are long but u can tell he's passionate about what he teaches!!

Fun and engaging classes with a passionate prof. Lectures are long but worth it - use unstuck study alongside the textbook to ace this class.

james was a caring prof. the lectures were long but he was always willing to help his students.