This is a heavy read, tough class, but it's extremely worth it. Lots of opportunities to have open dialogue on important political issues, and Professor Simmons is perhaps the brightest mind I've ever met. Take this class!!!!!!!

Intl 101 is not a fun or interesting class and grading is entirely reliant on TAs. In spite of the lack of quality in the subjects being taught on, Erica seemed like a good lecturer and I'd be interested in taking a higher level course with her.

Asks a lot of rhetorical questions in lecture but concepts aren't hard to understand. Course material was interesting. There are a lot of weekly readings that you need to know for discussion section - just skimming is fine. There were 3 1000-1200 word papers and one 8-10 page research paper. Prof is not accessible- syllabus says not to email her.

Reads off script, lecture is incredibly boring. Has far too many guest lecturers. Didn't go to lecture at all and got an A. Class is a waste of time.

Lecture was cancelled 9 times and were often not done by her or just read directly off a script. Laptops banned in lecture. Lots of homework given all at once relating to case studies that are not very helpful in learning the content. The final project is interesting and reflective. The textbook is $50 and barely used. Grades depend entirely on TA.

Monotonous. So many cancelled classes. Poor distribution style of homework. So many guest lectures. Reading from a script.

her lectures are not good

Good professor

She was kind and clearly excited by her work. She opened the floor for discussion and student input often, and took new information/perspectives with grace. I didn't know what to expect but I found the class incredibly interesting, it was more social science-y than politicly technical. Graded on three tests (open note) and discussion participation.

Professor Simmons is one of the best professors, academically and as a person. She is really responsive even though she does not like it when we email her. Attend her office hour, inspiring. Overall, it is not an easy A, but as long as you follow her instruction and show up at discussion, you will get a pretty nice score.

This class was asynchronous and Simmons didn't always do the lectures herself. She posted a lot of work to be done each week and even the TAs said it was overwhelming at times. The only assignments are 4 essays, 4 worksheets, and a final paper, all graded by the TA. How you do in the class honestly depends on your TA, not on the prof.

The material is very easy to understand as the lectures are to the point. This class is a lot of work, however. Your grade is based upon 5 essays and 4 worksheets. I found the lectures and reading on top of the writing to be overwhelming and not necessary to get a good grade in the class. Discussion sections were very helpful.

Her lectures were all very interesting and made more complicated concepts easy. This is a great course to take online since it's also taught online over the summer, so they just adapted that and it works well. There are several papers but they're short, straightforward, and not graded very hard.

She does a lot of cool work and research outside of class and is in general a great person to talk with. She does an amazing job explaining complicated concepts in lectures, and grades fairly. There's a lot of reading, but most of it is interesting and all of it is relevant to the course. 10 out of 10 would recommend.

Good lecturer for just starting. They get kinda boring but she gives you exactly what you need to know for the tests. One 10 page paper, but you work on it all throughout the semester. Bought all the books, opened them once. You go over them in discussion but I still never brought them.

I generally liked Professor Simmons. If you went to lecture, paid attention, did most of the readings (at least skim), and took good notes you can get an A. You do have to write a research paper, but she helps guide you with little deadlines which is nice. Sometimes her lecture slides would only have questions on them, which could be annoying.

Very respected professor. Very passionate about what she teaches, but the power lectures are hard to sit through. She is very caring and encourages participation. Lots of "required" reading, but it isn't necessary if you can follow the lecture. I'd recommend reading the two books though because they are exam material but not discussed in class.

Really loved her class. She puts a lot of emotion in this class and makes the subject matter very understandable. She loves getting feedback on how to teach better. Not a whole lot of outside homework. Exams aren't bad cause she gives out a study guide around a week before the exam. She loves conversing with her students. Really good professor.

Overall pretty easy but hard to ace the tests. Ended up with an AB. One long paper, but isn't graded too hard. The textbook is incredibly boring; I didn't end up reading any of it, but I'm sure it would've helped on the test. There are two novels that are interesting and more necessary to read. I thought the class was very interesting overall.

Professor Simmons can be somewhat boring in lecture sometimes, and quick general in her words. She has a tendency to pose a lot of really general questions during lecture instead of making statements, which was sort of annoying. Overall she was pretty good though and picked good content to each about.

Her lectures were always super interesting. She listened to feedback from students and TAs and adjusted lectures and homework accordingly. One of the best IS instructors on campus. Genuinely interested in events going on around the world and they were reflected in lectures. The best lecture she gave was on terror right after the Paris attacks.

Professor Simmons really cares about her students' academic success but also is there to push them. Lectures were at times boring, but never unbearable and she kept it entertaining. Tests consisted of all essay questions which needed at least two days of preparation to gain full credit.

Professor Simmons is a very passionate educator. By that I mean, she is very passionate about the issues that she approves of and teaches as though her viewpoint is the only one. The textbook she assigned was terrible incredibly biased and openly mocked its contemporaries. She has potential, but she's not there yet.

Lectures are long and dry and if she catches you with a phone out, shell take it out. It is reminiscent of middle school. She talks at you, wants students to shout back answers and is pretty slanted against capitalism/western countries.

Great teacher who was extremely passionate about the class! Would recommend to others!

Mandatory attendance for discussion sections, not lecture.

Truly an amazing professor! She is very passionate about the materials, and she cares very much for her students. In our class of 45 people she got to know everyone's name. Her lectures are great and very straight forward. No tricks at all on the exams. Go to lecture, listen, take notes, and you'll do well. I barely did any of the readings.

Professor Simmons' lectures were very interesting and informational. She cares about her students. Grades were never posted and it was unclear what grade cutoffs would be. Readings were very time consuming. Some were very interesting but the main textbook was boring. Research paper graded easy but tests were not.

Erica was my favorite professor from this semester. She made lecture really interesting by providing real world examples, and her passion is evident. Guest lecturers were also pretty common and they all came with interesting topics as well. The tests are essay style and refer to content straight from lecture or readings.

Erica is one of my favorite professors at Madison. She cares deeply about her material and her classes. I took her Social Mobilizations in Latin America class and Contentious Politics. Her tests are very fair and her reading requirements are reasonable. She is more than willing to help if you are confused with the material.

SImmons is an excellent lecturer and likes to engage with her students. I went to her office hours once and after just a 20 minute meeting she remembered my name and topic of my paper and called me out in class (not in a rude way). Makes you work hard but is really passionate about her work. Overall a hard but rewarding class.

Have to put a lot of work into this class and read all the material if you want to understand because she goes through lecture slides so fast that you cannot write anything down. Discussion sections vary on difficulty depending on the TA that you have. 10-page research paper assignment and 3 tests instead of a final, but still a lot of work.