The class is super easy as long as you actually put some remote amount of effort into the course. She's amazingly nice if you go to office hours (gave me an extra 8% on the midterm after talking to her). The language isn't an issue so long as you actually try and understand. Plus if you can't understand her, good luck in going into IDS.

YOU READ A LOT! Around 200 pages a week... sometimes lucky and less. The conferences once a week are mandatory and participation reflects your grade... She will almost all the time read the slides instead of explaining the course content.. Gets borring.

Clearly her first time teaching a large class. A pretty standard into class regarding difficulty. A lot of readings, but just do the ones she talks about and you'll be fine. Lectures are a bit boring and slow, yet very easy to follow and clear. Exams are pretty easy but also very trivial. Overall an easier class but not that stimulating.

This class is fairly easy as the tests are basically stuff off the slides. There are lots of readings but it wasnt necessary at all. Barely did the reading and still got an A. Bad lecturer but a really sweet and helpful person. Not very intellectually stimulating but recommended for those who want to boost up gpa.

Kazue is really an amazing professor. She really takes the time to help students especially during her office hours. She is also very helpful with papers and very knowledgable in her field . I would recommend her to anyone who wants to take an INTD class

It was her first year teaching INTD 200 so she was a little shaky at times, but is SO sweet and willing to speak to students. She does not try to make things difficult and she assigns interesting readings!

She is one of the sweetest profs ever. Really cares for students, very available for students. Her lectures were not the best because she read off her slides . Weekly conferences are pretty interesting and easy to get full marks. There is one easy paper, one midterm, conference marks, and a final. All of these were all around pretty easy ! Easy A.

Very nice, but difficult to understand (not that I went to class all that often). TAs were much harder markers than Kazue, but she was willing to re-grade all exams/papers.

A nice Japanese lady.

Lovely professor! Works hard to engage all, is very understanding, and has a lot to offer in terms of learning if you choose to put in the work.

Really one of the best profs I've had since coming to McGill. The class is very interesting and there's a potential to learn a lot if you do all the readings (which most students don't due to laziness). Despite other comments, if you want an A, you HAVE to understand the literature well and put in a good amount of work. Highly recommend her class!!

Really one of the best profs I've had since coming to McGill. The class is very interesting and you will learn ALOT if you do all the readings (which most students don't due to laziness). Despite other comments, if you want an A, you HAVE to understand the literature well and put in a good amount of work. Highly recommend her class!!

A very comprehensive course that covers a lot of material! Anyone interested in development should take this course along with econ 313 and 314. Also I think Exams are graded more strictly than in previous years so you have to know your stuff. The average for the midterm was 72%. So yeah I think the class has become tougher now, but great prof!

A lot of guest lectures, can sometimes be a bit boring in lectures, but still a great choice. Interesting content in the course.

Takamura is probably one of the nicest profs at McGill and really wants her students to do well. Lots of opportunity to boost your grade (easy group presentations, conference participation etc). She brought in lots of guest speakers who spoke about specific development issues, many were very good and interesting! Super easy and interesting class

I LOVE HER! She is thoughtful and goes above and beyond to make sure you feel like you got something out of this course. Talked to her about personal matters related to course material as well - ready to listen. When I missed a conference, she let me make up for it by writing some reading notes on a topic I didn't do well on for the midterm! LOVE.

After taking both INTD 200 and 397 I'm really impressed. Prof's Kazue's approach to development issues is very unique and I learned a lot! I can't recommend her enough! Go to class and do the readings, and you will be blown with how much more knowledgeable you'll be by the end of the course!

I've had two experiences with Kazue. I took her in my second year for INTD 200 and was not extremely impressed. This past semester, however, I took INTD 397 with her and was BLOWN AWAY. The class was engaging and fun. Kazue excels with a smaller group of students dealing with more specific and interesting topics. Love her and looking forward to 497

Kazue Takamura is an amazing professor because she embodies all the characteristics that a university teacher should have: she's organized, thorough, and her approach to the subjects is very enjoyable for a student, whether you know nothing about it or you're already passionate about it. + she's genuinely heartwarming and loves to help.

Amazing professor. If I were ever to give up IDS she's the reason why I'd choose to stay.

So far the sweetest prof I've ever had at McGill! She is very caring and patient. Her lectures are very well-organized. There are many chances to earn bonus points. The midterm questions are expectable and fair enough. Highly recommend!

Absolutely one of the best profs at Mcgill! Such a sweet, caring, loving, and extremely knowledgeable lady! Her lectures are the best I've taken at Mcgill, the material is so interesting and engaging which made me wanna study IDS even more! She's not a tough grader for sure, but you do need to study well. Take her 300/400 level courses and enjoy!

She is a really good teacher. Lectures are clear. Course content are not hard to understand, but an eight page long paper, weighing 45% of total grade, is a little bit heavy for a 200 level course.

Professor Takamura was an absolute angel to have a professor. I have had INTD 200, INTD 350, INTD 397, INTD 497, and INTD 490 with her, so trust me when I say this. To succeed in her classes, be sure to ask lots of clarifying questions, participate thoroughly, and attend her office hours. She is consistently patient, understanding, and caring.

She is so sweet and kind. If you find her slides confusing, you can always ask her for help or get a TA to clarify it but she keeps the info succinct and reading the slides will be good enough. However, you do need to attend class for the in-class quizzes but honestly these are super easy mark boosters that really help you. Was a fun course!

The most kind professor.

Easy midterm, easy quizzes, easy project. Lots of well established guest lecturers from the field

One of the best professors at McGill. Do not judge Prof. Takamura off of INTD200, which is a large class that spans a variety of topics as dictated by the Department. Take a higher-level class, such as 350 or 497 that really highlights her knowledge of gender issues and migration. She is kind, caring, and I wish more were like her.

Listen; Prof. Takamura is BY FAR the most caring, helpful and polite professor you will likely encounter at McGill. She's always willing to provide additional explanation and grades fairly. Her tests reflect very well the content learned in class. Most importantly, she treats you with so much respect that you simply cannot fail to reciprocate.

Professor Takamura is a wonderful lecturer who takes the time to draw clear links between the real world and theoretical concepts presented. This is a great introduction to a lot of the literature that is referenced in other courses, and in the field in general. She's also extremely caring and understanding of student needs which helps tremendously

Great and caring teacher. She gives numerous opportunities for you to succeed. I appreciated her lectures, her feedback, and her cares for her students. She has clear grading criteria to help you succeed. If you follow her advice and feedback you will pass and succeed.

She is such a sweet professor. I personally had tough time understanding her lectures because they were a bit disorganized, but she would provide extra help if you reach out to her. She was also very considerate when I contacted her about problems with group presentation members. Go to classes, don't fall behind, work hard, then you would do fine.

She is by far one of the nicest profs. Not sure how she performs in in-person classes considering everything is online. She has been very lenient with due dates as well as offering additional support by hosting office hours on Zoom. The class difficulty is definitely manageable. As long as you follow instructions, getting an A is straight-forward

Nice. Didnt do much work. Always get over 80%.

I had Takamura for INTD200 as well and decided to take another class with her. She is probably the most understanding professor at McGill. She is very sweet and caring. The course itself was interesting and easy to success as well. 10/10.

Prof. Kazue cares about her students, she was VERY flexible during remote learning (she offered up to 6-7 bonus points in total). Her lectures aren't very well structured and they tend to get confusing because she jumps back and forth but if you manage to do the readings and follow the main points you'll be good. Assignments were lacking feedback.

Professor Takamura has to be one of the most understanding professors at McGill. Her lectures are easy to understand and she's always down to provide clarification if a student needs it. Her assignments are also VERY fair, you just have to do the bare minimum (show up to lectures, take notes, and at least skim the readings) to get an A.

By far one of the nicest profs I've had. She repeatedly makes herself available to address concerns or questions before papers are due and is super patient when approached. The content of her lectures and the debates she highlights around issues of sustainable development are also very engaging.

She's super passionate about what she's teaching and you can tell. In guest lectures, she makes her own notes and always asks the guests questions and engages with them. Speak up in her class - she wants students to be involved! Pretty reasonable course load. Instructions/information sometimes confusing but she's always available to clarify.

She is very reasonable and understanding to students. The online class was graded with three essay assignments, small quizzes, and conference reflections (alternative assignment available). Her lectures are more freeform than structured but the class was not tested on memorization so there's no pressure to have extremely organized notes anyways.

Very nice.

I love kazue so much. I had her for INTD200 which was also a good experience. I feel like everything is super clear -all the concepts - and I learn a lot as long as I go to the lectures and attend the conferences and do the quizzes. Readings not necessary which is nice because there are a lot of them. She is a fair grader, and isnt a hard class.

Super sweet and really passionate about the subject, has really in depth adjacent knowledge too and has extra reading recs if you're interested and reach out

The lectures were simple and comprehensive! The grading scheme is very well distributed so even if you get a bad grade you're ensured to save your overall grade. The weekly quizzes and conferences help ensure students that they stay updated and on board with the content! If you want an easy but interesting class take this for sure !!!

This class was a lot of reading material (around 3-4 long readings a week), but they were very interesting and could be done on your own time. All of the lectures were recorded and easy to follow so it wasn't difficult to complete them. Prof is very nice and understanding, she held lots of review sessions and was always available to meet.

I love Kazue and have had two classes with her. Her lectures aren't the most interesting and honestly, can be hard to follow, but if you listen to what she's saying it's easier than trying to follow the lecture slides. Class is easy to do well in and Kazue is very helpful if you have questions. She's honestly the most kind-hearted prof ever.

Take this class if you are interested in international development. Be prepared, not a great lecturer. Didn't love the class at first, but really warmed up to her and the content is interesting. You only need to do the readings needed for the 2 essays. Loved the way she organized the grades - small regular assignments kept me engaged all semester.

Took my first International Development class with Professor Takamura and I loved it, found it to be a great intro course as an IDS major. She is extremely sweet and answered emails quickly, providing feedback and guidance when necessary. Lectures were a bit disorganized but the material was still interesting and understandable.

Prof Takamura is a lovely person and super understanding. However, I do agree that her lectures can be a bit disorganized. I will be forever grateful for her kindness when she still accepted my final essay which was handed in very very late due to burnout.

I believe her rating is too low. The topics she chose for INTD 200 were extremely interesting and provided insightful readings. Her lack of strength in lecturing is balanced by her bringing in guest speakers and responding to emails quickly. TAs were easy graders. I can't say enough good things about that class. It solidifies my intent to do INTD.

Loved Professor Takamura! Her topics were very interesting, she has a passion for her work and is extremely intelligent. You can feel the effort she puts into the material and the choice in guest lecturers. Only negatives: lots of quizzes and conferences, but they don't count for much. Found grading to also be vague, but revisions are possible!

The kindest, nicest professor you will find at McGill. She is not a harsh grader and is very reachable outside of class. She treats you like a person and cares about your mental and physical health. She gives extensions if you sincerely ask for them. doesn't record lectures, and grading is vague, but she is extremely knowledgeable.

INTD 200 is a great course and I would 10/10 recommend it. The content was always very interesting and worth going to lectures. Prof Takamura is a great professor and her class in terms of graded work was fairly easy. However, she is a dry lecturer and I found it difficult to pay attention the whole time

Professor Takamura is an engaging, knowledgeable and caring teacher who values class participation a lot. She is totally not condescending like other profs can be, so don't be afraid to pitch in and participate! You'll get great results in the end.

Amazing prof! Her lectures are clear to follow and well done. 10 quizzes, 5 conference reflections, one midterm paper, and one final paper. She is sometimes hard to understand, however, I found it becoming easier throughout the course. I definitely recommend taking her courses.

Prof. Takamura has great lectures with interesting content and a lot of guest speakers which makes it really insightful. However, there are a lot of assignments to do that are not worth for a lot in your grade. There are also a lot of readings each week. Overall, would recommend taking this class for the variety of topics that it covers!

Prof. Takamura is passionate and extremely kind, this class was very interesting and the grading was based on written quizzes, conferences and papers.

The course content was very interesting, covering a wide range of developmental issues across the world. Prof is very intelligent and has a wealth of knowledge with respect to INTD. However, a lot of the lectures were based on the slides which I felt were very brief. it'd be difficult to get above a b- without doing the readings.

Overall, Takamura was a solid prof. The class moves fast and covers a wide range of topics and lectures don't go in depth, but you are not expected to know anything not covered in lectures and readings. Grading was fair; The quizzes were just graded on completion, and be sure to rely heavily on readings for the papers.

she's great and very knowledgeable but hard to understand at times. this makes her lectures kinda tedious/repetitive and consequently optional (although not recorded, a lot of ppl skip). she brings in amazing guest speakers tho!!! sooo many assignments it's insane (i.e 8 quizzes worth 5% in total), but it's not hard to do well if you put in time!

Prof Takamura is very passionate about this course although it can be hard to follow the lectures without doing readings. She uses the same course structure for most of her classes and her mycourses is easy to follow. The content covers various topics and is quite interesting! The quizzes and conferences help reinforce the content, overall great!

Such a sweet prof, interesting lectures. She is highly interested in the subject she teaches and cares about students. Readings are long, dense, and often full of jargon. Midterm was difficult but fair (mostly because of time constraints), and TA Lauren Avis is super nice. Highly recommend taking, especially for first-years considering INTD.

Professor Takamura was an amazing professor. While her lectures aren't mandatory they are helpful in understanding the material. She clearly loves the subject, and is very accommodating, she wants you to do well if it's clear you're putting in the work. Guest lecturers were also amazing, and tas are very helpful.