Very funny man, however he does ramble on and on at times. The class is easy, he cracks some good jokes and tells some good stories. I'd recommend him.

This class starts out slow but then gets harder as the midterm and final approaches. Dr Ashley gives good points for attendance and outlines very well what one needs to do for an A. He does talk alot about nothing sometimes, but is very funny.

Don't take his class if you're easily offended. Encourages student discussion, and actually seems to prefer discussion to lectures. An excellent professor if you're majoring in polisci, but non-majors might find his classes too involved.

Very intelligent and entertaining.

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came into class with high expectations due to his previously published works but was let down by constant ranting

While it is sometimes hard to follow his lectures he really knows his stuff, he loves when students come to see him in his office hours, but be careful what you ask; open ended questions will have very, very long answers. He loves to rant. o yea the mid term was graded very harshly.

Class can be very boring and somewhat difficult. Ashley is very intelligent although many people will find him very biased.

A lot of people don't like him because of the intellectual level of his lectures, and they also say he is not a very fair teacher. I personally thought he was brilliant, extremely intelligent, and although his class is difficult he was the most lenient of all my teachers by far. This is not a free ride class, it takes maturity.

Dr. Ashley is brilliant. If the other people who commented had actually done research for their papers, they would have realized that his work is cited all over the place. Maybe he does know more than you after all. His class is challenging and you have to read and think but it is worth it. Don't take for an easy A Gen Studies credit though.

Ashley has a lot to offer his students but you need to be patient to understand him. He is a brilliant man and I recommend his class to anyone with an interest in theory.

Great teacher. Very important in the Political Science community. Smart. Funny. Casual. Tells you exactly what is on the test. Watch lots of movies. Listen to his lectures and you won't need to read, and vice versa. Recommend wholeheartedly.

This class was a breath of fresh air. Dr. Ashley is incredibly brilliant, and much more easily understood than people make him out to be. His lectures are clear so long as you don't mind the occasional tangent. He's INCREDIBLY liberal, but hilarious. Great class, challenging. I recommend it, although not to the faint of heart.

Dr. Ashley is very talented in the English language and can guide you through the class and its fun.

Here is the type of an extraordinary professor that will get a bad review from a generic ASU student. I think he is to good to be reviewed by ASU students. If you really listen carefully to the arguments and actually read the textbook instead of daydream while doing so, you will find out why he is the most well known professor in his department.

He is a hard teacher, but this is a rewarding class. You learn alot from him and as long as you study for the tests you will do just fine.

Great Guy. Has a cool T.A.

I absolutely loved Dr. Ashley! The class picks what's going to be on all the tests, he tells you how to answer to get full credit, and he looks over the midterm paper if you turn in in early with the option of correcting it to get a better grade. If you do bad in this class it's because you're lazy, I got an A.

Dr. Ashley is one of the most entertaining and charismatic lecturers I've had. This was helpful since the class met for three hours once a week. Expectations were clear, and everyone had a chance to submit the paper early and find out ahead of time exactly what to study for the exam. The book was average, but he brought things into clearer context.

He is nice and fairly flexible with turning assignments in but it is not an easy class.

He is a great teacher and he knows what he is talking about. I was in his honors class and i got an A because you need to be serious if you want to pass. The book was okay and i liked the way he tied a theory to a movie. We got a chance to turn in our final essays early to get a grade and improve it before the due date.

I love him! the class is a little hard but totally worth it!

Definitely has a different teaching style, can be entertaining. His lectures help guide students through the text book. Although, just a few people had a hard time following. He respects students who make the effort. He will not tolerate stupid questions.

Dr. Ashley really knows his stuff and makes the class engaging and interesting. He's really calm and helpful, and however sarcastic he seems, he does care about helping students succeed in the class. He does teach his own bias, but at least admits that he is biased, and there's no need to adopt his viewpoints to do well.

a lot of people in his lower level courses go in thinking they know everything and refuse to see otherwise, which is probably the reason why there are some students who don't like him. while he does have a tendency to go on tangents, not a lot of people realize that he is one of the modern most respected theorists on realism in academia.

At first he comes off as a jerk, however, in time you learn that he is one of the best polisci teachers at ASU. He creatively connects movies to political theories and provides several examples in his lectures to help you understand. Take notes in class, you will need in-class examples for the two tests you get.

A lot of the things that irk most people is his condescending demeanor. However, he knows his stuff and makes his exams easy to study for. His lecture gets a little boring since he goes off on tangents, but he can be pretty funny if you accept his dry sense of humor. The main problem with the class is the lack of blackboard updating.

I would like to defend Dr. Ashley and say that he is one of the most intelligent and down to earth professors I have ever had. I may not have had him with all of the POS160 students in big lectures, but in our seminar group of about 25 people he was able to get an entire class of strangers to go out drinking with one another. Thanks Dr. Ashley

This class is easy if you take good notes. I got an A in his class. There is two exams and one essay, study guides are provided. Ashley knows the material very well, and those that wrote bad about him are the kids that didn't receive the grade they wanted. In his class good notes = good grade.

Dr. Ashley is one of the best lecturers at ASU. He goes off on very detailed tangents, but once you learn the concept, thanks to the tangent you'll never forget it. His lectures are very thought out. Go to his office hours and talk to him about the paper, he really helps. Don't bother with the TAs.

Best teacher ever, hot a huge fake lib

Fantastic professor, with a great TA. The class consists of a midterm, research paper, and final exam. He takes attendance by dividing the class into five groups and randomly lists one off during each class period by means of a question. Unlike other professors, he bends over backwards for students and is very helpful. There's only one book, too.

Has very high expectations for homework and grades ridiculously harshly. The work itself is interesting, but is quite demanding. Most frustrating is the fact that no matter the effort you put in it is unlikely you will receive a good grade.

Professor Ashley is actually pretty awesome and funny. His lectures may be a little dry but he is a really nice guy and willing to help. I thought his assignments were fair and he grades very fair as well. Studying is crucial for the midterm and final and reading is important to do well but it is generally not that hard to get an A.

Class is relatively easy if you study. For each exam there are study groups that are EXTREMELY helpful, attendance to these is necessary if you want to do well on the exams. Be prepared, he takes up every minute of the class for lecturing.

Best professor ever! He cares for his students and does everything possible for them to pass his class. didnt buy a book the whole semester, i based myself on notes from lectures and still got an A for the semester. pretty easy class if you are willing to attend lectures and study for exams.

Dr. Ashley was my favorite teacher from Freshman year. He will do anything for you, as long as you talk to him early about it. He's a very smart man, and is funny both inside the classroom and out. He does like to go on tangents, but they make the class interesting. He also shows movies to make things translatable! A+ teacher!

Great teacher, class is quite difficult and requires attendance and discipline to study to receive a high grade. He likes to talk about "random" things and go off on tangents, but if you take the time to really listen, everything he says makes perfect sense and is relevant to the discussion. The man is beyond brilliant and deserves great respect.

An excellent class for learning the fundamentals of international relations theory. Dr. Ashley knows his material quite well. In-class film screenings. If you're serious about Political Science this class will be very valuable and you will probably grade well. If not, it's probably going to take more discipline and reading than you'd prefer...

This man is a wonderful professor. He's about as knowledgeable as an international relations professor can get and you learn a lot for a beginning class. The reading is dense, but if you're serious about political science you'll eat it all up. It's not an easy class, but if you put effort and thought into it you'll do great.

From the start, this class was not what I was expecting. It is a class about International Relations, and it is not an easy A; it is quite difficult. However, he offers tons of help, especially with the final exam. He truly cares about his students, and he is incredibly knowledgeable in his field.

Dr. Ashley loves teaching and it shows. He goes off on long rants, but at the end he ties them into the theory and they make sense. I had this class as a once a week, 170 minutes class time and I definitely recommend NOT doing this. The class is entertaining how he ties in pop culture movies into theories but do NOT take it as a once a week class.

I adored Dr. Ashley. I had NO interest in international relations/foreign policy until I took 160. I loved it. He's hilarious and will relate basically anything to IR. There is a midterm/final and a term paper. Take notes in class-tests require in class examples and read the book. Can turn paper in early for early feedback. He's such a great prof.

So far he's really cool. I'm really liking his class. I'm finding the information super super interesting and I have never had any interest in politics

I took two classes from Dr. Ashley back in the mid 90's. I was a business major and not a poly sci major. I really enjoyed his classes and the manner in which they were taught. I had no interest in political science until I took the classes from him. I remember that attendence was not mandatory but he would randomly take role.

If you actually listen to him, this man is an excellent professor and is incredibly knowledge about the subject he is teaching. Discussion board, midterm, paper, final. Really straightforward. Read the textbook and lecture notes. Not an easy A but definitely an interesting class!

There are a lot of negative comments on here, simply due to his style of teaching. The class itself isn't difficult. He does go off on long tangents, but everything has a point. He is an extremely intelligent man, though he can come off as arrogant, he teaches the subject very well. Those hungry for the subject, will love him. The rest, hate him.

I loved the course, along with his style of teaching it. True, he does fall off topic a lot, and he explains things through stories and metaphors - I take Ashley as an old-style lecturer, as a a philosopher. If you can't grasp difficult concepts, you will hate him. Simple as that.

Richard Ashley is a great professor who is very helpful to his students. This is not a class for someone who just wants an easy A, you need to actually spend time and immerse yourself into this subject. Ashley does not suffer fools, but he is always willing to help his serious students. If you really want to learn he is an amazing teacher.

Dr. Ashley is extremely intelligent & has a great wealth of knowledge regarding political science. Yes, he does go on tangents but he tries to tie them into the lecture. The book is not really important but the lecture notes are. Ashley is extremely helpful if you visit him during office hours. Warning: the final is worth like 40% of your grade.

This professor is so incredibly brilliant, I hope to absorb all of his knowledge. His ideas are so profound, and he is very much respected. If you are easily offended or have trouble grasping complex theories, do not take this class. If you are up for a challenge, and care to engage in intellectual conversation, this class is for you.

Very entertaining and fun to listen to/interact w/. Cares deeply for his students. A few disc. boards, term paper, & midterm + final exams. Good attendance can help your grade but bad won't hurt it. Easy to blow off class, but you should go anyway. Need a lot of patience to take him as he meanders in his lectures quite heavily. Learned a lot!