Leithner, Anika  

Took her for the super easy POLS 111 to fulfill the AP Gov credits... super easy online quizzes that you just do with friends anyway, and a 45 question final that took me 9 minutes. Plus she likes LOTR (if you don't get the acronym, don't ask) so that's cool.

Really, really easy class with a tiny textbook (or i should say pamphlet for that matter) and even though we only met with Dr. Leithner twice, she was a really nice lady. Her powerpoints are really helpful and the discussion boards actually aided me in mastering the material.

Really easy class. I did all the quizzes (which averaged to a low A) and got a B on the final and still pulled an A- in the class WITHOUT buying the $50 book. I added the class late because I really needed 1 unit to be a full time student and Dr. Leithner was really cool about it and added me even though her class was full (even though it doesn't really matter because the class doesn't meet except for the final). I heard the other teacher for POLS 111 doesn't include points for a discussion board, while Dr. Leithner does, and I feel this really buffered my grade (if you do 5 out of the 10 discussions you receive 100% in that category which is 20% of your grade). Overall it was great!

The quizzes, which you do at your own convenience during the week, are not that hard- especially if you take them right after reading the book. In addition, half of your lowest scores are dropped. With the freebie points for discussion posts, and similar questions appearing on tests from before, pulling an A should be a piece of cake. Overall, Leithner was definitely fair, and I've heard that she is helpful if you need it (though most everyone is intelligent and independent due to the fact that this class supplements AP credit).

I really enjoyed both of the classes I took with her. She is very respectful of ALL of her students opinions. She is a little tough on attendance and participation but you will learn a lot.

This is the worst online class experience I've ever had. Not only did I find that both quizzes and the final were full of errors, but this teacher responded to every question rudely. Including a simple "did you receive my project?" email. In my opinion a yes or no would have saved her the time of sending a ranting email out to the entire class. I found that the final was not indicative of the most important concepts of the course but rather a written form of jeopardy quizzing about random statistics. To add onto my frustration, the final was misgraded and after about three days of having our scores on there wrong she regraded....only to LOWER my grade by 12%. (Because every question of the final translates to 1% of your grade). If you wanna lower your gpa and feel like you got nothing from the experience, go ahead, take pols 111 with this instructor.

This is an online course and you never see her in person besides the first day. It is supposed to be very easy, but I have this thing about cheating so I was one of the few who actually read every chapter and didn't open my book during the online tests. So I ended up with a C in the class. But that's ok, at least I have my integrity.

This class was all online but she was really helpful in giving hint to where to find information to answer the required question. Very understanding teacher and emailed back very quickly. Would recommend.

I got an 89.9% and she gave me a B. That is all. This teacher is even more awful than Batista.

If you can't find some answers in your modules, go to office hours to get help. This class is online, but it was still fairly time-consuming, and I did not get anything out of it.

I successfully got 99% of my answers from quizlet. Even the final exam. Don't waste your time actually searching for the one specific website where the answer is located that's ridiculous. Just get good at searching quizlet and you'll find everything you will need.

This class is hella easy and you can finish it in a few weeks if you want. Really easy to find the module answers online. We had an online final which was just as easy. Literally only saw the prof once. Kind of ridiculous though when you get a 93.9 and she gives you an A- :(

This teacher is not effective in her presentation of the material. Even doing all of the work will not guarantee an A or B because the final is so unreflective of the course.

This was my first quarter at Cal Poly, and yet I can still recognize that Ms. Leithner is an exceptional instructoor in terms of teaching ability. She does require you to be in class everyday, but this is to your advantage, because all the tests and work required are always covered in the lectures. As a person, Ms. Leithner is incredibly down to earth and fair. She's very understanding about all assignments and work, and if you have a legitimate reason for not being able to be at class or not being able to turn an assignment on time, she'll hear you out. Also, being a political science class, I had some concern as to a teaching bias in terms of political ideology, however, I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was incredibly fair and unbiased in the presentation of the different aspects of political science. She's very helpful - if you contact for any kind of advice on an assignment or help in general, she's always very positive and helpful. She's also very knowledgable in her field. She doesn't demand information that she does not cover in lectures, readings, or whatever. She's very friendly and personable, unlike many other pedantic old fools who, due to the acquiring of a title of "Doctor", think that their word is infallible and unquestionable. There are written 4 assignments total and there are reading quizzes for each reading assignment, and the workload is not impossible, but it is challenging and requires a few hours a week. You also need to participate in class, but if you are uncomfortable doing so, there is an online discussion board that allows you to present your opinions through the medium of the internet. Overall, if you can stay on top of it all and pull off a convincing notion of responsibility, you can get an A in this class.

I absolutely agree with the person below me.

Research design isn't the most exciting subject in any major, but Leithner was able to make the experience virtually painless and at time quite humorous. The second half of class about the different areas of POLS was interesting and very informative. She has interesting stories to tell and uses them and current events to really get everyone involved in discussions. She's willing to go beyond the course content in order to answer a question and to keep opinions flying – all of which she welcomes. You don't have to fear being wrong or brushed off. The four written assignments are pretty short, but don't fail to wrtie them well because she's a tough grader. Her midterm and final are a choice between multiple choice/short answer and essay, look at them carefully to pick which you can do, the MC is not easy. Overall a great teacher, highly reccommended, and I will be taking her classes as often as possible.

I definitely agree with the positive comments. Leithner is a great teacher. Her lectures are normal, sometimes dry and sometimes interesting. Yeah the research aspect is dull but she makes it really easy to get through.

She is really passionate about the material. Even if its a somewhat dull topic of lecture she does an excellent job presenting it in a way that keeps everyone interested.

Love her! She is so sweet and is so freakin' smart...I can't even tell you. She grades fairly, and is really good at facilitating class discussions...sometimes at the cost of the actual lecture, but I never felt unprepared for anything. She is super approachable and will definitely help you out if you need it. I like that she is one of those teachers who hasn't yet forgotten what undergrad is like...that you have other classes with other priorities and are trying to juggle things. Her expectations are pretty realistic and you will learn a lot from her.

Dr. Leithner is a wonderful professor. She is knowledgeable, cares about student learning, patient, and does a wonderful job of stimulating classroom discussions. However, she kept making references to "football," and I think that she was talking about soccer, and I found that a bit confusing. Overall, I would recommend her highly, and I don't mean that I'm high when I say that.

Professor Leithner rocks. She explains all the material very clearly, and her lessons are very well organized. The work load isn\'t unbearable... there are readings from the books on a pretty regular basis, reading guides called Advanced Organizers due with each reading (graded mostly for completion), and a few papers throughout the quarter. For the midterm and final she lets you choose whether you want to take the multiple choice test (with a few short answers) or the essay test, so she really wants everyone to be tested on their knowledge, not on their memorization or test-taking skills. Before the midterm and final, I definitely recommend going over the study guide she gives you and fill out all the questions, even though there are a lot of them. She\'s really funny and keeps class very interesting even though the material is pretty boring. I would definitely recommend taking any class she teaches. She rocks!

Dr. Leithner is such a great Professor! I really enjoyed her class because she explicitly planned out the entire quarter in her syallbus. She also gives very detailed instructions on all of her assignments and is very helpful if you ask for her help. I would finish my assignment a week early and e-mail it to her and she would tell me if it was A-worthy and if not what I had to do to make it worth an A. That was really helpful. She is also really funny and makes hilarious jokes about her German heritage.

Leithner is a boss baller. She\'s German and definitely proud of it! And she has a tattoo sleeve, how sick is that? She\'s hella nice, definitely willing to help you out. The class is kinda tough though, she expects you to really know the information. She\'s a really great teacher to have though, I\'d definitely recommend her.

Leithner is seriously the nicest teacher I\'ve ever had. She\'s so understanding and will work with you. DEFINITELY take her for any POLS class! She\'s a pretty easy grader. Her 3 assignments take a lot of work and time, but she\'ll give you a good grade if you put work into it. The homework is easy, you don\'t even really need to read the books.

I really enjoyed Professor Leithner! I would definitely recommend her. She is very nice, extrememly understanding, and more than willing to help any of her students. The information is very straight forward, and she makes the class entertaining with her personal stories. She is a very fair grader and she is very accomadating when it comes to questions and office hours.

Professor Leithner is extremely approachable and a wonderful teacher. The workload isn\'t that bad: weekly readings from the textbooks and advanced organizers\" to complete afterwards to summarize/reiterate what you learned. There are 3 major assignments over the quarter, all relate to each other; you develop a research question a a research design basically. There is also a take home midterm and final. I can\'t begin to explain how awesome Professor Leithner is. She\'s friendly and always available via email or office hours!

Anika is awesome. She likes to talk about Germany a lot, which is totally fine because her stories are actually interesting, and she is pretty funny. She's easy to relate to, and she is very good about communicating with you about problems inside or outside class (she always responds to emails). The only thing is that she seems a little scatterbrained sometimes - this can be a plus when she has to cancel class because she forgot the notes. Most of the time it's irrelevant. Overall, VERY cool teacher.

Very straightforward introductory class. Professor Leithner is a great teacher; very funny and engaging. She is light on the workload and is very lenient when it comes to due-dates. She doesn't take Political Inquiry too seriously (which it shouldn't be) but communicates the information to you that you need to know in order to carry out a cohesive research paper. I highly recommend taking her class if given the chance.

Leithner is the best professor here at cal poly. Shes really understanding if you ask her questions about an assignment right before it is due. She understands that we are students and we have other classes and a huge workload. She understands that things come up, and you might need a deadline for an assignment. Take Leithner!!

Professor Leithner is amazing! She clearly states her expectations of her students in the first day of class and always explains assignments clearly. You will write a research paper in this class, but she makes it a manageable and easy assignment. She also assigns a take home midterm, which was fairly straightforward and an in-class final. All in all she is a fabulous professor who really cares about teaching and is always available!

First of all, I love Leithner. She is a very nice professor who is also very knowledgable about the topics that she teaches. She loves student participation and hearing students input. She actually grades you on it. If you do not like talking in class, there are other ways you can earn this part of the grade, including participating on the online discussions. I have had her 5 times so far and I am sure I will again. One thing to note though is that she does assign a lot of busywork. She is not one of those professors who grades you solely on a test, a paper, and a final. She utilizes online resources like Blackboard and Polylearn a lot so be prepared for that. And while she is very nice and has a very chill and relaxed attitude, she does not grade that way. She expects you to put in the effort and do the work well. She does not grade easy like some people are fooled into believing when they first encounter her. Overall, she is a great professor and she gives you a great world perspective because she is German and uses her experiences as an immigrant to give real world examples that can help you understand concepts. Don't worry about not understanding her; she does not have an accent and speaks perfect English.

This professor is so amazing! She was very helpful during her office hours and is very easy to talk to. Some times things are unclear in class, but when you attend her office hours she will clear them up instantly. She is quick with her grading and has interesting discussions about current events everyday. One thing though, be sure to participate in class. So be sure to speak up! This was an awesome class!

Leithner is great. This class is a lot of work for a 100 level class, but prepares you very well for later POLS courses. She is always happy to help and is good about updating course information and your grade throughout the quarter so that you always know what is going on and where you stand.

I don't understand why all of you love her so much. She talks about the most random things and always refers to Germany. She'll go on tangents, and tangents of those tangents. I did not like that class at all.

Professor Leithner is great! She is able to relate to her students and makes class very fun. This class is A LOT of work for a 100 level class, however, Leithner does not set you up to fail. She is very helpful whenever you need her, and has great passion for politics. Take her class, you will not regret it.

Nicest professor ever!!! I had difficulties writing the lit review and turned it in 6 days late... Yeah, terrible right. Her rule is 10% off for every day it's late, however, she was EXTREMELY kind and instead took only 20% off! She is a fun teacher and actually makes POLS 180 fun. The class is a heavy amount of writing, but I would recommend taking this class.

To be honest, Leithner isn't that great of a professor, especially compared to the other professors in the POLS departments I've had since I took this class last year. There was a system error on PolyLearn which screwed up one of my assignments. I emailed her immediately and she STILL didn't give me full credit, even after I explained what happened and showed her proof. She makes participation worth 15% of the grade, which is totally insane considering how hard she grades that portion. I showed up every day, talked at least 1-2 times in class each day and she still only gave me 70% for the participation. I don't know what her problem is. If I participated any more I might as well have been teaching the class. I'd say take 180 with someone else but you can't so basically prepare yourself for a B no matter how hard you try.

Since she had a kid, she went from the one of the best poli sci teachers to the biggest cunt in the department. She is an unresponsive lazy piece of shit. I had so much heart and respect for Professor Leithner, now she has completely changed in a way that has been screwing many students over (NOT JUST ME) Thank you for nothing.

Professor Leithner is a very nice lady and extremely easy going. I wasn't exactly inspired by this class, but its is a 100 level intro class so I didn't except to be. There is a midterm and a final which are both pretty easy. You get to choose between an essay and multiple choice form. She assigns some random, but quick, assignments throughout the quarter and a lot of reading. I didn't do any of the reading and still got an A, but it would've been more beneficial and much easier if I had read. I raised my hand multiple times a day and did all the available discussion on PolyLearn and still didn't get full credit for participation, so beware you need to go above and beyond in that area. Easy class and she's nice.

Anika is super sweet and pleasant, and her lectures were kinda interesting, but I felt like I didn't really get much from her class. I really like her as a person, but not necessarily as a professor.

Lowkey kind of obsessed with her. She's amazing. Basic Breakdown: 20% Participation- This category was slightly annoying, I did about 85% of the online participation and spoke at least once in every lecture and still got a 94% but its understandable considering how large of our grading percentage it is. 10% Attendance- You can miss two classes without penalty. 25% Midterm- Little bummed about my grade on the midterm, there just weren't very many expectations of what would be covered. Ended up with an 81%. The average score was around an 82%. This covered a lot of details that weren't very interesting at all making it a bit harder. 20% Research Proposal- This was actually a lot of fun, I got to pick a topic I genuinely was interested about and wasn't impossible at all too complete. Seems confusing at first but you get the hang of it. Ended up with a 94%. 25% Final Exam- Much easier than the midterm because the free response required a lot less detail and was a lot of opinion. Ended up with a 90% Overall Grade: A- And gives extremely easy extra credit assignment that gives you a 2% bump. The lectures were extremely helpful and to the point, all of which are available on polylearn. All information that will be on the tests. She does not blind side you. Overall nice, enthusiastic, and intelligent professor who I would love to have again.

AMAZING PROFESSOR! Must take her before you graduate. The course I took was extremely dry yet Anika was able to example and have the students understand in a very beneficial way. She is an extremely relatable person, does not act snobbish at all. She is always at office hours and willing to help. It is quite of bit of work but you will learn a lot. Just show up to class, pay attention, and ask questions and you will do fine.

Overall Pols180 is the most bullshit class, I wouldn't recommend anyone take regardless of professor. Dr. Leithner is super nice and easy to talk to but she's uninteresting in my opinion. Her tests or online, open note tests and are pretty easy to pass if you know how to think outside of the box. She has a 3 year old so she cancelled class a lot of times and she was very easily wooed into having class outside or leaving early or whatever. I'm glad I had her and not the other professor, so if you have to take this class take Leithner.

Really easy class, you just need to put in the time with the midterm and final. They make up most of your grade and they're open note, online, and you have a week to complete them. If you do not pass the class, it was because of a lack of effort on your part. She is a great teacher and gives an interesting perspective on how research is done that you won't get from a lot of other professors. I highly recommend this class, even as a GE.

Leithner really knows her stuff. Her class doesn't relate to the stuff you're graded on all the time (the whole class's grade is basically a big research paper split into different parts), but the political discussion is really engaging and the class frequently just talks about current events. The assignments are pretty easy and if you put a few hours into each one you should very easily get a grade reflecting that. Feel free to ask her opinion on things as she brings a cool global perspective to things. Highly recommended.

Great Professor! Understands its an intro level class and treats it as one! Teaches a lot of different methods for research and writing that are essential to a Political Science major. There was quite a bit of writing involved but no actual exams. Midterm and Final were both essays and as long as you put in effort there was no need to stress about it. The class is less about the actual examples she gives, she gives a lot of examples, and more about the overall topics she discusses. Great class would recommend it to everyone.

Leithner goes above and beyond for her students, constantly giving feedback on projects, always having office hours, and replying to emails in a timely manner. I recommend taking Leithner for POLS 180 she was a great introduction to the Political Science major!

I might sound crazy, but Dr. Leithner made me actually not want to miss my 8am??? Ever??? She is engaging even when teaching relatively boring subjects (the scientific method, applied to social studies), and she is super approachable and more than willing to help students with assignments in office hours or by email. She also grades fairly, and she is very reasonable in her approach to the political and ethical issues she teaches. My only complaint about the class is that barely anyone laughed at her jokes, which were FUNNY.

This was a really interesting and eyeopening class. The professor was very knowledgable and made class discussions low stress and fun.

Leithner is great! She loves what she is teaching and it shows. She made the material pretty interesting while in class but the book was pretty dull. You had four homework assignments each week (two about material read and two about current events). She really loves to incorporate the class. Participation is mandatory, but if you are shy, she has online discussion boards. I love how she incorporates internet into her classes too. She\'s also pretty damn funny (especially about her German culture)! I would recommend you take her classes.

Leithner is wonderful. Her class is a good balance between current events discussions and applying those to the subject matter of the text. The class could\'ve been a bit more exciting/engaging, but she did show great films. She is very very UNDERSTANDING, hardworking, available, and fair. There are lots of little assignments but that only helps your grade. Take her!

AMAZING! If you can take any of her classes, do it! Her lectures are open discussions, and she cares about all of her students. Participate in her class and you will do well!

i like her as a person, but she is not a good professor. her lecture could not be more boring and the $90 textbook is completely irrelevant, hell it says the same thing in every chapter. synopsis: this class is a total suck-fest.

During this entire quarter all I could think about was how this professor reminded me of that small little dog that runs through the back of scene 23 in The Incredibles by Pixar. Seriously, if you look it up you will only be able to see it...

I'm taking this course right now and it's pretty good. I was a little worried that IR theory would be super dry. Sometimes it can be, but overall it's actually kind of fun, because we discuss a lot. What I really like is that we got to decide how much we want each part of the course to be worth for our final grade. For example, you can have the midterm and final be worth less if you're not a good test taker and have participation and reading responses be worth more, and so on. I feel that really let's me play to my strengths. You can also choose between a final paper (10-12 pages) or a final exam.

I love this lady! She is an excellent professor who recognizes student's difficulties and can manage to make even something as dry as IR theory somewhat interesting. Im really looking forward to taking her again!

Dr. Leithner is a rare breed of teacher. She approaches teaching from the student's perspective. That is to say she works harder or beyond necessary to give the student an opportunity to be graded in a way that better suits their learning and testing abilities. Personally I find that her voice is kinda like a siren's call and most of the time I find it difficult to retain consciousness but that's me. Attendance is MANDATORY as is class participation. Most of the time I would just ask some open ended question that has no real answer near the beginning of class to show some class participation and then i would nod off the rest of class. For the most part IR sucks but Anika makes it bearable. She is worth taking just for the experience and opportunity to see if you like her yourself. Definitely above average.

Honestly one of the best professors I have ever had. Professor Leithner's lectures are super interesting and she's really big on student participation so it feels more like a discussion than a lecture. Frequently the class would turn into debates centered around the various International Theory's we were learning which I felt really helped us to understand the application of theory to real world politics. Overall and absolutely amazing course taught by a nice, funny, and very relatable professor. 10/10 would recommend to anyone interested in international politics.

Dr. Leithner has been one of my favorite teachers here at Cal Poly. She is extremely enthusiastic about what she teaches and always enjoyable. Paying attention in class is very easy because it is mostly discussions (Which are always interesting). We had 1 midterm and a final. The paper was assigned the first week of class and was do the last day. Get started early! We also had daily quizzes on the previous nights reading. Make sure to read! Or at least skim the readings...The way the class is graded is interesting. She lets you pick the way you want to be graded. The first week of class you sign an agreement about the way you will be graded. You can mix and match how much you want participation, quizzes, paper, etc to be worth. I thought this was very nice. Dr. Leithner is also very valuable outside of class. She will do anything and I mean anything for her students. The best part about her is that she is hilarious! I would definitely recommend taking her!

Great Professor! If you\'re looking for a fun and interesting course, take one of hers! She doesn\'t grade very tough, and if you speak to her in person, she can be pretty lenient on due dates also. She always gives examples in class on subject matter that the class is interested in, and makes a 4 hour lecture fly-by. She really is one of those professors out to help her students in any way she can.

Literally the best prof I've had at poly and I'm not even a pols major. She's super passionate about her topic, clear and interesting lectures, very fair tests, helpful when you need help writing essays, she's just awesome. And she's from Germany so she has a different perspective on a lot of topics and that was really helpful and interesting for this class. It's not an easy A, you definitely have to put in the work, but it's so worth it. She makes pols fun and interesting!

Dr. Leithner is not only insanely smart but she is helpful, informative, works hard to make sure students understand the lectures and is very patient. Her lectures do not consist of her opinions and she does not try to shove any sort of ideology down your throat. Take her!! I've had her for numerous classes throughout my college career and she is perhaps one of the best POLS teachers around. All of her classes consist of lots of reading, so you can't just cruise through the class, and she does expect participation in class discussions, but reading and discussions are what a POLS class is about! Do work and you'll learn a lot from her.

This class was very interesting. I learned a lot about the main issues in the conflict. Dr. Leithner was very clear and to the point with her lectures. She also stimulated a lot of class discussions. Her teaching styles were very helpful. It is important to note that this class was also taught with a philosophy (or religious studies?) professor, Dr. Lloyd-Moffet. It seemed like he made this class a lot harder than it needed to be. He wrote a majority of the first midterm, and LITERALLY everyone failed. I put a lot of effort into this class, and got away with a B-. I know this polyrating is for Dr. Leithner, but it is worth mentioning that this class was not easy (mainly because of Dr. Lloyd Moffet). Anyways, even though this class demanded a lot, it was very interesting. Take this class, but just be aware that it is hard.

One of the best classes you will ever take at Cal Poly but DO NOT take this course if you are looking for an easy A or B. You will have to work and do quite a bit of reading to do well. Leithner is one of the best Profs in the Dept. and will always help if you are a serious student but if you are just trying to coast she is not the Prof for you!

Leithner and Lloyd Moffet co-teach this class. I think they are great together and you will do a lot of laughing in this class. Both of them do a great job of of being unbiased. Neither one of them have an axe to grind and they seem to be neutral on the Israeli/Palestenian issue. The class will fill up quick so don't wait around like I did and miss it the first time around. Participation is a big part of the class so interject early and often.

Getting an A will be difficult so don't take this class if you are weighted down with tough classes. You will learn a lot and you will want to attend class. She is from Germany and an academic so I am assuming she is a giant liberal like the rest. Having said that she never lets her political opinions be known in class, which is a huge breath of fresh air at Cal Poly.

This has been one of my favorite classes at Cal Poly! We compared the foreign policies of about 15 different countries around the world. Dr. Leithner did a great job of finding the right mix between theory and current examples. There\'s always a LOT of discussion in her classes, which I like. What I especially liked about this class is that after a couple of weeks, she realized that the format she had originally chosen didn\'t work all that well, so she took the time to ask everyone in class what they thought and changed the format of classes to make it more interesting to us. It\'s rare that professors care what students think of their classes or how much they get out of them. I HIGHLY recommend this professor.

Best professor I had at Cal Poly. Hands down!

She is a super easy teacher but she doesn't challenge her students and she always is missing class or ending it early. In some ways its great because you get hella free time and an easy quarter...BUT on the flip side you don't really learn anything. I could go on CNN for 15 minutes, or read a chapter of a history book and learn more than she teaches in her class. Take her if you want a easy/BS class but don't take her if you want a good course.

Dr. leithner is the best international relations teacher in Poli Sci. She will do everything in her power to get you a great grade, and is very approachable inside and out of class! TAKE HER if you can!!!!

Really really really nice teacher, but sometimes her assignments and lectures are a little confusing. Everytime we came to class, it felt that we rarely got passed last class's discussion. Plus, the material for this class could probably be taught in a day or two, just because there is not much to be said about the European Union. It was ridiculous how this class got dragged out for a whole quarter. Regardless though, she is a good teacher primarily because she is really approachable and understands that we have other classes then her class. Example, she gives you two options for midterms/finals, multiple choice or essay, depending on your strength.

Dr. Leithner is a really nice person/professor. But her classes are, to put it bluntly, a waste of time. She lectures on and on about random, irrelevant things such as her love of animals, her husband, or whatever else is going on in her life that has nothing to do with class. When she does lecture, she is usually clear but topics that should take a PhD a day to discuss take her a week, primarily due to her insistence that every topic be discussed to death. Many people who take her classes will tell you that she is one of the best professors in the department. I disagree, her classes are at a high school level difficulty and serve little purpose other than to discuss current events. I came to Cal Poly extremely excited about my choice of major (Political Science, International Affairs concentration)but after having a few classes with Dr. Leithner and Dr. Zhang, I leave disappointed and demoralized.

This was one of the better courses I've taken. I totally disagree with the comment below. While it's true that there's a lot of debate in Professor Leithner's class I personally like her interactive style. She'll lecture for a few minutes and then ask us questions and try to get us to discuss the issue. Sometimes I felt the discussion did go on a little longer than was maybe necessary, but overall this approach works. I also like that she uses personal stories to make a point. She's European and it was nice to hear some of her experiences in a course about the EU. She's very approachable. As long as you communicate with her she'll always help you out with assignments, extensions and other stuff. I never went to her office when she wasn't there and willing to talk with me even when it wasn't her office hours. Her assignments are easy but useful for the most part. Some of them were a waste of time, but most of them helped.

This was not the most exciting material in the world but Dr. leithner really does a great job of making everything into a discussion that usually has some sort of real world value to it. Not your typical professor which is great. The most refreshing part about both of the classes I took with her was that she did not use her position to indoctrinate her students into the democratic party.Unlike many other professors who act as if this is thier primary mission as an educator.Highly reccomend any class she is teaching!

AMAZING as always!!!

Best teacher ever! She is super nice and very fair. She is so understanding and recognizes that we all have other classes and responsibilities. Plus she is funny and I rarely get bored during class.

Leithner\'s class was OK, nothing great certainly not horrible. She\'s a fairly easy grader, all you have to do is complete the reading and participate in class. The grade consisted of a take-home essay midterm (3 essays), class participation, advanced organizers (reading response worksheets), and a final project (includes essay and presentation). I\'m sure the grade breakdown will change for future classes, but honestly this class was a cake walk. Sadly, I didn\'t come away with significantly more knowledge about the EU than I had going into the class. Lecture was sometimes way off-topic and rarely went beyond the basic information presented in the readings. That being said, Leithner is really nice and if you know nothing about the EU, this is a good introductory course that won\'t stress you out.

This is the second time i've had Leithner; and let me just say, she is a wonderful teacher. She is SO DOWN TO EARTH which makes the student-teacher relationship better. She clarifies any question you might have and the BEST part is that she is willing to incorporate new ideas into her syllabus. For example, we had originally a take-home policy midterm set, but because the class wanted to, we got the opportunity to take an alternative, Oral midterm. She's willing to teach students in a way that will actually help them--not only through mundane lectures, but interactive discussions. Pols 383 has the potential to be a very mundane, extremely difficult class. But her teaching allows you to learn the material and you actually have a say as to how you would like to learn the material. Couldn't ask for anything better from a teacher.

The class workload consists of: 10 advanced organizers (short answer homework assignments that are extremely easy), a take home midterm that consists of 3 essays that you are given a week to do, and a policy paper and presentation that you do with a group (your section will be 8-10 pgs double spaced). There is no final or class meeting during finals week. Overall the class is not a lot of work with only very brief periods of heavier work loads. You get a 2% boost to your grade if you show up to every class. The actual class combines lectures and free form discussions as the bulk of the material is not directly included on the midterm. She is very helpful and approachable and is a fair grader. She makes an effort to make the class not monotonous. Participation is about 20% of your grade, so you need to speak up in class once or twice per period, contribute to discussions posted on PolyLearn, and/or go talk to her about the subject matter during office hours. Overall the class is not difficult if you put any reasonable amount of effort into it.

she is an amazing professor, but be aware that she is incapable of turning anything back to you quickly...

I really enjoyed this class. It has opened my eyes to issues that I never even thought about before. I like that she is balanced and doesn't try to teach you one view of US foreign policy. I'm more on the conservative side myself and it's nice that unlike some of her colleagues Professor Leithner doesn't seem to be pushing any particular agenda. The assignments were fair, two policy briefs, note cards for the readings, and you even got to choose between taking a final exam and writing a term paper. What the person below said about the grading taking a while is true, but I've had her before and this seems unusual for her. Normally she is pretty quick about grading.

She is the best, hands down! She is as amazing as her classes are and this one is no different. Im not going to waste your time, just go an enroll in her course!

This was a class about film and global issues. Basically we watched a bunch of foreign films in the class, did some readings that tied the films to political science, and then discussed how films are used to portray political and social issues. I first thought I\'d hate the foreign films with subtitles, but Dr. leithner\'s choices were great! I especially loved La haine which is about these unemployed youths in Paris. One of Dr. Leithner\'s best skills is her ability to moderate discussion. She\'ll lecture for a few minutes and them ask questions to get the class involved, then she\'ll lecture again, and so on. Unlike some professors who will let students talk and talk and talk about unimportant things, Dr. Leithner does a great job of directing the discussions so they\'re actually relevant. I LOVE her classes!