[{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTQyMDczNTM2","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2025-12-06 21:05:04 +0000 UTC","comment":"This professor greatly cares about what he is teaching but often lectures on material that is not at all relevant to the exam. Attendance is mandatory (they don't manually take attendance however), where if you skip a lecture, you will be screwed for the exam. For the exams, especially vocab exams, he is EXTREMELY picky in what he is looking for.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":3.0,"difficulty_rating":4.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTM2MjU1OTc1","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2022-05-05 20:07:44 +0000 UTC","comment":"Prof. Marquez seems like a really sweet older gentleman with a lot of experiences relevant to the course matter. As a professor, I dislike him immensely. No slides, little notes, just rambling for 50 minutes. Very strict no electronic policy, even for note-takers. I've never had a disjointed course, lectures are a waste of time, essay prompts worse","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":1.0,"difficulty_rating":3.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTMyMzM5NjE0","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2019-10-31 02:01:16 +0000 UTC","comment":"The lectures and discussion section topics are entirely different. All the readings (of which there are many) are handled in section, and the lectures are an entirely different topic. If you skip lecture, you are in big trouble on the exams, and you have to take incredibly good notes because he doesn't use PowerPoint (just verbal presentation).","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":2.0,"difficulty_rating":3.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTMxODI2MzMx","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2019-05-09 18:14:00 +0000 UTC","comment":"Prof. Marquez is by far the most passionate and interesting professor that I have had. He connects the material to his research and experiences that he has had and his lectures always kept me intrigued. One comment is that the exams, which is all your grade depends on, can be very difficult. I would recommend going into office hours to help.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":4.0,"difficulty_rating":4.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTI4NjE3OTM1","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2017-08-16 01:20:04 +0000 UTC","comment":"Marquez is very passionate about what he teaches, making him interesting to listen to. He is very clear about what you should take away from his lectures although sometimes they're a little random (really loves to talk about farming and thomas jefferson). However, this class would be hard if you did not agree with Marquez's politics.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":4.0,"difficulty_rating":3.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTI4Mjc3NTU2","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2017-05-10 18:45:37 +0000 UTC","comment":"I thought he was ok. The final was ridiculously hard and a large percentage of our final grade (40%) but he's actually a really cool guy and even though his lectures were kinda old school he found little ways here and there to keep it interesting. All in all pretty average professor but very interesting class and awesome TA's make it worth it.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":3.0,"difficulty_rating":4.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTIzMjI1NjQ1","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2014-05-12 12:35:32 +0000 UTC","comment":"I do not recommend this class. It is super difficult and the tests are unfair. Professor Marquez has a lot of personal interest in the topic and he is a very nice man, but he is not a good professor. Lectures are disorganized and boring, tests are hard, and there is no textbook. Do not take this class unless you absolutely have to.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":3.0,"difficulty_rating":4.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:52:06.166993+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTIzMDE0MDg3","source_instructor_id":"rmp:355403","instructor_name":"Benjamin Marquez","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2014-04-09 17:36:21 +0000 UTC","comment":"Terrible professor. there's no organization whatsoever to his lectures. He just stands at a podium and stutters his way through 50 minutes. I would't go to lecture at all except there's no textbook to get the material from so I have no choice. Further, this class is the worst class I've ever taken. Consider yourself warned.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/355403","quality_rating":1.0,"difficulty_rating":5.0},{"observed_at":"2026-09-07 16:35:22.962134+00:00","run_id":"20260907T155543-ce3781c4","source_review_id":"UmF0aW5nLTIzMzA1ODE1","source_instructor_id":"rmp:1904060","instructor_name":"Jack Edelson","course_label":"POLISCI231","course_id":"CHICLA/POLISCI 231","course_uid":"course_bea55b6a287f37f3377c81f5","review_date":"2014-05-23 18:19:54 +0000 UTC","comment":"Jack was not a good TA. No matter what you wrote on tests, he always marked something wrong. This is a terrible course and I really do not recommend taking it.","source_url":"https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1904060","quality_rating":2.0,"difficulty_rating":4.0}]