Peter Smith - University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Professor: Peter Smith

Department: International Studies

College: University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: LATI50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

peter super knowledgeable and passionate about latin america. reading heavy class. no other work required ideally, dont need to read book. but recommend really reading book because the lecture slides are very brief. gives study guides for tests. one midterm and one final. provides a paper option to boost grade grading of test based on TA.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: POLI146
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Lecture, no podcast, grade based on 1 paper and 1 final. His love for the subject is admirable. I honestly thoroughly enjoyed his self written textbook. Attendance is not hugely important as long as you read everything. I would take one of his classes again.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: LATI50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

one midterm with short essay format. final includes short essays and long essays. do the optional paper, helps your grade. the study guides basically outline what are on the tests. dont need to memorize so much, class is more about synthesizing. interesting class, even though he can be boring at times.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: LATI50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

lectures are kind of boring but he definitely knows his stuff. you really need to pay attention because most of the info on his slides is vague. gives study guides for final and midterm that are VERY helpful. i didn't read much of the book and got an A- because his tests are not based on knowing all the history, just being able to make connections.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PS146
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Didn't go to class at all but I did manage to somewhat keep with the readings and got a decent grade. Lectures were often long winded. His study guide was helpful, but does not include everything he will put on the final(even though he sometimes states otherwise). Optional midterm, mandatory paper!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: LATI50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Prof is very knowledgeable but can be a boring speaker. His tests are fairly easy as long as you attend class. Sometimes he goes off on tangents. But overall he is ok.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: LATI50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Nice guy. His lectures usually made me want to sleep though. He is very knowledgeable about Latin america but sometimes goes off on random tangents

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POLI30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Extremely unorganized and boring. He fails to explain concepts; definitely do not take him!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: POLI134
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He is definitely an expert when it comes to Latin America. He assigns his own books but they are informative and thorough. His lectures were long-winded and a bit boring, but then again it was a 3 hour class. Midterms and final were easssssy IMO, but you do need some memorization and reading, but nothing extraordinarily in-depth required.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POL30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This professor is HORRIBLE at teaching stats. He's a really nice person and i'm sure that he's an excellent Latin American studies professor, but statistics is not is area of study. He does not know how to teach it, he never referred to the class as a math class, which is what it is. The TA had to re-teach us everything that he had taught us.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PS134A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I really enjoy his lectures and stories. The reading is sometimes tedious, but he has been clear that the tedious information is not necessary to pass the class. Assigned a book he wrote, but I find it more interesting and helpful than the other book assigned. I find him very attractive for an older man, so I don't mind watching him in lecture.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HILA
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I'm with the last poster, I enjoyed the course, the readings and the lectures. The power point is online-but do not count on it-you will need lecture material for the exams. Met with prof. during office hours, very helpful. Lectures were concise and relevant, no boredom factor at all, highly recommend!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POSCUPPER
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I was just browsing some of my favorite old profs and can't believe the low ratings of Dr. Smith (granted, I took him years ago--class of '97). This man is brilliant! He is one of the few profs that stand out in my memory at UCSD. Where am I now? I'm an FSO with the State Department.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POLI30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Just talks about his own studies in Latin America. Relates everything to his work. Doesn't really teach well.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POLI30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The material itself is boring-even for me and I'm a poli sci major-but relevant. HOWEVER, this does not excuse the HORRIFIC job that this prof did. Lectures are RIDICULOUS (i only went to the first 4) and NO ONE had a clue how to do the project or half the final because he didn't explain anything.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POLI30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Fell asleep in class all the time, lectures not very concise. boring material. The worst part is that our final projects and our final were both due at the end so we had no clue how we would do in the class. My TA was helpful, and reading is light, though.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POLI30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

lecture isn't necessasry b/c he provides the power point online, so don't go. his in-class examples don't really help, but it's usefull to hear everything an extra time if you feel you need it. don't stress about the project, it's not as difficult as you think it will be. the TAs are very helpful

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POLI30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

this class is a piece of sh*t- it's so hard- and if you get the wrong ta (like i did)- then you're screwed. it's a hard- don't take it

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POLI30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I fell asleep in class almost daily. He's very boring and doesn't explain well. The only reason I passed was my generous TA and what I think must have been a curved final.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PS30
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

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