McKinstry, John  

McKinstry gave somewhat interesting lectures. He also gave quizzes straight from the test. The quiz is designed to make sure you read, but he picks little pieces of information that would be impossible to memorize. He does give the answers afterward, to prepare for the multiple choice test. Nice guy, almost humorous, but tough quizzes.

The lecture is somewhat boring unless he tells an interesting story. Quizes are every week, although he does give you one free quiz.

This professor gives really good lectures and his midterm and final are easy. The quizess that he gives from the book are hard.

Dr. McKinstry gives the best lectures. He teaching style is awesome. His quizzes, which he gives every week are hard, but overall I recommend taking him for this class.

Nice guy, but don't bother going to his classes. But DO make sure you show up to the quizzes (you can't make those up). He's an interesting fellow, but it takes him 20 minutes to tell a story that should only take 5. If he could just speed it up, the class wouldn't be so damn boring. He's also always late, which is good for people like me who are never on time to class. Take this class, the quizzes are kinda hard, just read the material right before you go to class. Otherwise, just think: you get four units for going to a class once a week!

I don't understand the dislike other people have for Dr. McKinstry, I felt his class was very interesting. He likes to tell stories sometimes, but usually they relate to the material. The tests and quizzes were extremely easy, they were straight from the book or his lecture. He's a great teacher and I would not hesitate to take him again for another class.

This is a terrible class. He gives 3 midterms and a final...which he gives study guides for...too bad nothing on the study guide is on the test. He writes things on the board and erases them 3 times over, because he can't remember what he wanted to say...so you never know what the truth is. He talks about irrelevant things the whole hour, and then tests you on things that you were never exposed to, or random facts you never paid attention to. He is the most unorganized instructor I have ever had...too many typos to count on his tests...I felt like I was taking a grammar test rather than a SOC test. Smart man, but does not know how to teach. Very frustrating.

McKinstry was an odd fellow! He has a rather sick sense of humor that I wasn't used to! He was also ALWAYS late for class. He showed up to our final 20 minutes late because he was playing tennis!!! However, he did have a passion for culture, and that made his lectures very interesting. When I took the class we had to study four different cultures: China, Japan, India, and Mexico. Every two weeks we'd learn an abridged version of the history of each country so we could delve into the "social" aspects! I was one of the few people who really read the readings, but I still found his tests to be challenging. There was a multiple choice test on each country and then a cumulative final covering all four at the end. The questions were either really easy or really challenging because you either knew it, or you didn't! It is really important to write down EVERYTHING from his lectures because he loves to test his students from his little side comments and numbers or percentages. I can't say that I loved this professor and I highly recommend him, but I will say that he was an awesome story teller and made sociology much more interesting than I had anticipated! The best advice that I can give is go to class, take copious notes, don't think that it will be easy to bring your grade up later, and enjoy the class because I learned soooo much more about four countries I didn't know much about!

This professor is really cool and has a good sense of humor. He gives 4 tests the first on china and an overview of culture, the second on japan, the third on india , and the final is a review of the previous 3 tests and mexico. He gives u a word list for each test that contains probably 75% of the test questions and the rest of his questions come from his lecture where he writes anything thats important on the board. He realizes this is a 100 level grade and almost everyone gets an a or b. I definitely recommend soc 110 and this professor for your d3 g.e.

He is a great profesor. Has a good sence of humor and is interesting to have. 4 tests, all fair mostly on lecture and a study guide. Good class to take not too much work.

Mckinstry, better known as the friend to the student is a professor that alwasy keeps the student in mind. Tests are straighforward with only the information provided being on there. Actually knows the material he's teaching and seems to still be interested in it. Looks kinda like sean connery too hahah

Ok gang! Haha is what he says every 2 secs, but besides his random humor (sometimes crude) and comments....which actually keeps you listening he knows what hes talking about, almost too well...where he just stands up and talks about stuff that is either not relevant or you THINK is not relevant and your tested on it. Other than that, its pretty straighforward even if it all seems random, and the tests really are easy...seriously dont listen to anybody who says hes hard, if you read the book and PAY ATTENTION TO NOTES AND VIDEOS! No problem what so ever getting a B 90% up is A and 80% and up is B!!! dont stress, just do work and go to class!! 3 midterms, 1 final cumulative, but same questions on past tests!! 210 pts total in class.

This guy has no clue how to lecture. He follows no outline, constantly jumping from one unrelated subject to another. If thats not bad enough, there is no way to get above a C if your not in each lecture. He gives a study guide, but doesn't follow it. I knew absolutely everything on the study guide, yet only pulled off C+ grades on the tests. Good Luck if you take Mckinstry.

This guy is a fucking idiot. Seriously, I read some of the other evaluations and you have to be joking! This guy has no idea how to teach. He is the most disorganized teacher I've ever seen. He just jumps all around from subject to subject sometimes like 500 years apart, its impossible to take notes that make any sense. I strongly recommend taking a different teacher, you definately won't learn anything of this guy. Mckinstry if your reading this, your a fucking idiot and need to quit because you have no idea how to teach.

This teacher...well he kept my attention with his "interesting" sense of humor. He pulls the same jokes every quarter, and the same "well gang" every class. You can tell he knows his material, but he has a bit of a problem presenting it and keeping on track. He jumps from topic to topic, and has no organized lecture plans. I was glad when he passed out study guides for midterms, but pissed when I realized the shit on the study guide was completely irrelevant to the test itself. He is terrible at responding to emails, so don't even attempt to contact him. Although, he kept my attention, I don't think that overweighs his confusing tests, and boring texts and movies! Take him at your own risk...

This guy is really fair. He has been to many of the places that he teaches about and has many anecdotes to give along the way. While the classes were fairly interesting, as long as I read the book thoroughly, I was able to get an A on the tests. I actually hardly ever showed up to class...We met 3 or 4 times a week, and I showed up once each week, unless we had a test, then I'd show up the test day, the day before, and the day after to get the test back. For one reason or another, there were some students that had a real difficulty with this class, even though they showed up each time...others, like me, showed up sporadically, soaked up the lecture and read the book and aced the class. The teacher really didn't have a problem with us not showing up all the time if we were doing fine in the class. (We had a really large class and he knew who I was and how I was doing in the class.) He gave great answers to any questions people had and tried to make the lectures as interesting as possible. I would definately take another class from him.

O.K. Gang!!! God, if I hear that remark one more time I'm gonna fucking vomit. First of all, McKinstry isn't an asshole, he just doesn't know how to teach for shit. His lectures are extremely boring and he jumps from date to date without caring whether or not the class understands what he's talking about. Certain dates just pop in his head from some memorized, fucked up outline of the class he has. The study guides are a joke. Out of the 50 or 60 things on each guide, he might ask one question about one of them. The funniest thing of all is he thinks he's fucking Japanese. "Uh.....gee....how do you say this in English?" Please. Uh, McKinstry, how do you say Fuck Off in Japanese?

McKinstry is the best teacher I have had since coming to Poly, and I only took his class to fullfill a GE requirement. His lectures are really interesting, sometimes one of his jokes will even be funny. It made the 2 hours go by very quickly. If you are bad at memorizing straight facts or don't like history- don't take this class. I did well because I can remember stupid little details, and that is what makes up all his tests. We had the final on Friday so he gave the class the chance to sign up to take it earlier with a different class. There is no other homework besides reading and studying for the tests. The class goes by really fast with a whole lot of info covered so even though you are never required to be in class I would recomend you miss very very very little. I would tell anyone with an interest in history or ethnic studies to take this class, it is a blast.

McKinstry is an odd old fellow, and his classes are interesintg sometimes. The class isn't THAT hard, I didn't do much reading and still got a B. I'd probably try and take someone else instead, but McKinstry isn't too bad. Lectures get pretty boring sometimes though. But hey, sometimes you just gotta take classes you aren't interested in.

If you are looking for a class with a minimal workload, to help fulfill your GE requirement, Mckinstry's is a good class to take. Three tests make up your entire grade in the class, One on China, one on both India, and Japan, and the third on Mexico, and with questions from the previous two tests. As long as you attend every lecture, and fill out the study guide the night before the tests, you should be able to get a B on each test. if you are shooting for an A, reaading the material would be a good idea (I never read the material). This is a pretty easy class. Good Luck!

This GE was very easy if you attend class and read the four short case studies. The four case studies we went over were China, Japan, India, and Mexico. The reading was very boring, but if you skim over it and look at the charts you should do well on the test. Make sure you pay attention to statistics in the lecture because it will show up on the tests. Overall he is a great teacher and worth taking. He jumps around a lot during his lecteur, but this shouldn't be a problem if you pay attention. Many people in my class day dreamed and didn't pay attention, so when they came to, they were lost. Read and don't fall asleep, that is the real of thumb.

McKinstry....what can i say. He is a funny old man. Half of the class is him rambling on about his many adventures in life and other randumb tangents. With that said, I learned more in this class than most of my major classes. I found the classes interesting, informative, and a joy to go to. No homework. Two tests, one final. Some of the questions on the final are recycled tests questions from the first two. If you study the study guide he gives you, and read the sections of the book that talk about current day japan, china, ect., you will get an A. I would definetly take this teacher for soc 110.

HES WAY TOO OLD TO BE TEACHING!!! his lectures are the most boring things you will go to. i was excited for sociology, but after his class i hate it. read the books, because thats 90% of the test. i went to all the lectures and it didnt get me anywhere. make sure you know the stuff on japan too b/c thats his fav. sooo boring, everyone falls asleep in his afternoon class. good luck.

This guy is very knowledgable on the subjects presented in the class, but really has no clue on how to convey that knowledge. I would sit in class and listen to him ramble from one thing to another with no apparent connections, and chicken scratch unorganized words on the board. I only went to class becuase i felt i might miss the two things he would actually teach each day and becuase i refused to buy the $120 worth of books (5 of them). Tests really aren't too bad, all multiple choice and he goes over every single question after the tests and since the same questions show up on the final exam it ends up being a good thing. Overall this is a kooky old man who would make a cool grandpa but not a great teacher.

He is a really neat teacher! He is so funny and smart, and he makes for an interesting class. There are three m/c tests, which are really easy if you study! I don't agree with the negative comments below because he is vibrant, coherent and organized. He does show videos, which I found to be entirely applicable to the course material. He also gives a study guide for the test - unlike other teachers I have had! He is the best teacher I have had at Cal Poly! I feel lucky to have taken his class because I learned a lot about Japan, Egypt, Mexico and Germany. It's also neat to take him because he shares his stories about his experiences in Japan! He's such a character!

wow where to begin.. this man is INSANE! This soc class is more like a Japanese health class than learning about other countrys' cultures. he shos up usually late so you're praying he will be 15 mins late but always comes 12 or 13 mins late.. his tests are nealry impossible.. the questions ask for very specific answers and the answers on the mulitple choice test are very vague so there's a problem with that... read the book like 15 times and try to stay awake for his boring videos.. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO.. CHOOSE ANOTHER GENERAL ED. REQUIREMENT..

First of all, the man has some issues. He had to go to Japan to get two of his submissive mail order brides because American women wouldn't go for him! Another thing, if you're a fat person, be prepared for his rude comments about your condition. And, if you're a woman, be prepared for many chauvenistic comments, i.e. comments like never get married because women will make your life miserable. Another thing, he stumbles over the facts and figures sometimes giving the wrong ones altogether. Another really irritating thing is when he shows up five minutes late to class every time! On Finals day he was ten minutes late and didn't have enough tests to go around so he had to go back to his office to get some more. So he wasted 30 minutes of my time. He gets kicks off of startling you, i.e. stomping his feet or acting like he's jumping out at you so make sure you don't give him the scared or startled reaction he's looking for. His tests are easy enough to get a "c" or higher on, you're a fuck up if you get less than a "c". I didn't really enjoy hearing his stupid jokes and chauvenistic and cruel comments. I felt that was uncalled for, and he should be disciplined for it, but he's a good ol boy who has been at Cal Poly forever so they let him get away with it. I wish I'd taken Anthropology or a class with someone else but I did learn about Japan, Germany, Egypt, and Mexico, so it was interesting. I don't think he's a very good teacher, he's very insensitive and a bully. He likes to put people down, especially those who sit in the back, I believe he called them a bunch of sex offenders. So be prepared for insults and stupid jokes and even a few cancelled classes and definitely be prepared to come to class five minutes late because he doesn't show up on time at all. I think the fucking rude old man should be put out to pasture or be sent up to Poly Canyon without food and water!!!!!!!!

This guy gets no respect, no respect, ha ha! He's a roar. Everything's funny, late to class every day, even on the final. His wife does everything for him, she ought to give him a karate chop to his fat ass to get him to class on time. He's been married about 100 times so he bashes marriage. Think there could be some issues since he only marries the submissive Japanese types. He really shouldn't feel so insecure, he's a smart guy, speaks some different languages, he's riding the Cal Poly gravy train, and can practice his comedy routine while he gets paid for it. He does get a little confused here and there, probably because he worries too much about his night on the improv. His tests are fair, he doesn't try to trick you by phrasing questions so similiar like some "professors" here to quell the A's and try to forecast their brainwashed dumb assed bell curve. So if you go to class, laugh at all the hilarity, you are a fat bastard, and listen you should get a C or better. If you study you should get a B or A. What more can I say, ha-cha-cha!

The tests can be a little misleading, but they are multiple choice with a few fill-in answers. There are no term papers or homework. He is an interesting guy - he is fluent in Japanese and has traveled extensively. He shows interesting videos in class. However, expect him to run at least 5-15 minutes late. He is a nice guy and very approachable.

This guy is someone I would much rather have as my grandfather than as my teacher. The guy sounds like he's speaking gibberish all quarter, but I promise you, EVERYTHING HE SAYS IN HIS DISORGANIZED LECTURES ARE IMPORTANT. The old guy also says really sarcastic and borderline offensive things all class. Expect jokes about sexuality and his mail-order bride. Also, spend a day counting how many times he says, "ok, gang" and you'll want to smash your head on the desk twice as many times. Overall, the class is interesting. The guy is really smart but so old it's just not quite the right combination for an effective teacher. If you get McKinstry, hug the adorable old man and then switch to a more organized and relevant sociology class.

This class was a waste of my time, McKinstry either rambles in front of the class, or puts on a documentary. If I wanted to watch documentaries, I would have stayed home and watched the history channel. I have never had a teacher that put less effort into a class. This guy should really retire, between all the typos and mistakes on his tests and losing track of what he's talking about in lecture and constantly going off on tangents. Funny story, first day of class he can't get the plug from the projector into his computer so he proceeds to put his computer on its side and tries to push the plug in and knocks his computer off the table breaking the port. Then for the rest of the quarter at the start of almost every class I showed up to he says how the room broke his computer.

John is an interesting dude who has some great things to say. His class is fairly straight forward - make sure you clarify what will be on tests and quizzes and will they will be. He's been all over the world and knows his way around history for sure. He will connect facets of information from tons of different areas which was fascinating for me. If you get the chance to take him I would recommend it. Go to office hours and he's way easier to get along with. I actually missed class the day of the final and he was super chill about letting me take the final after xmas break.

Comparative Societies is probably one of the easier options for area D3. And with McKinstry, it's not a bad filler class. He'll occasionally go off on a tangent, which can be entertaining if you're easily amused. Material, while boring, is easily regurgitated for the multiple-guess tests. Sometimes you'll get a video-day, so take a few notes on them. Bottom line: A decent GE for area D3 and a decent prof. to go with it.

Like everyone else, Mckinstry says "ok gang" more time than i can think. but he is an awesome professor. The tests are easy and the writing assignments are cake. i recomment this professor to anyone.

like most of the professors at calpoly, mckinstry struggles with technology. For instance, it seems to be a monumental task for him to lower the blinds. He waged a quarter long battle with the tracking control on our antiquated video player. This bloody battle was always waged in his characteristic jerkily sarcastic manner. While struggling with the projector on one particularly fatal day: "feel free revert back to your usual sexual fantasies..this may take five minutes or so..." It is impossible to take a professor seriously when he waves his hands in a "who cares anyways" kind of way while he's lecturing. his protracted digressions were always followed by a little shrug and upward movement of his eyes. ocassionally: "now some of you may be wondering what relevance this has to the class...well.... ZERO." this class, for all mckinstry's foibles, is fairly easy. i used to hate it until i decided to think of it as a blend of standup comedy and mid day nap time. enjoy!

Dr. Mckinstry is the most boring professor I've ever had at Cal Poly! All he ever does is ramble on and on about completely pointless things. Not to mention that he uses the same catch phrase "Ok Gang" all the time. He also always late to class. He was twenty minutes late to our final and then proceeded to make us wait another twenty minutes longer because he forgot to lock his car door. If you plan to take Hum 310 I suggest you forget about the Japan section and take another culture's section with a better professor.

Dr. McKinstry is a highly friendly and approachable teacher. His lectures are interesting and inspired but they are fairly difficult to take notes on. They are a bit inaccurate and tend to jump from topic to topic but this does not really detract from the class. If anything, the energy with which they are presented is highly refreshing. The tests are fair and are almost completely covered by the reading in the book. The book report is a walk in the park if you have any english writing ability whatsoever. Some of my classmates, however, felt that Dr. McKinstry gave higher scores if you agreed (or pretended to agree and not question) with his opinions on his analysis on the various societies of the world. I do not think this is true but I felt I should give all of you a head's up. Overall, I highly recommend Dr. McKinstry and this course.

McKinstry is a funny guy. I took this class because I didn't know anything about the rest of the world. He lectured every day and showed us videos pretty much every day. The material was kind of boring but he had a lot of good stories which made it more interesting. I definitely wouldn't bother buying the warrior's honor book, though, he had like 2 questions from it on the test throughout the whole quarter. There are only two midterms and a final, and then you have to read a book and do a report on it, but you just need to read the textbook (which isn't very hard to understand, he wrote it)carefully to prepare for the midterms. Bottom line, its not the best class, but if you have to take it for GE, get Mckinstry.

"Ok gang", this is what he said before he started every class! I was really worried after the first class because the man presented a great deal of material, but only wrote one item on the board. But after I started ready the material, I realized that the material he was presenting in class was all in the reading. Just read the material and hi-light what he tells you to go over and you will do well in this class. He is a funny guy, but he knows his material and the slides and videos he shows are very interesting. He needs to learn how to edit videos though.

Professor McKinstry was a very nice man and very fair with his students. The videos are very interesting and if you are interested about learning anything about topics such as why there is Islamic fundamentalism and what was/is the deal in Yugoslavia, so you can actually feel like you know what the heck is going on in our world, then I'd suggest taking this class. I learned a lot and all you really need to do is pay attention to the videos and read his the textbook that he prepared (which is very easy to understand) and you'll be set. People who have to use cuss words to describe a horrible experience in a class are obviously just stupid and don't belong at a university anyway.

OK GANG, so here's the deal with McKinstry...overall, he's a good guy who takes pride in what he teaches. He is obviously intelligent and very enthusiastic about sociology and life in general. He would be a great grandpa!! He's the kind of teacher who has so much life experience and so much knowledge to share that he can never manage to avoid going off-topic. The class is composed of two midterms, a comprehensive final, and a book-report-type paper. The text book is written by McKinstry and is very easy to understand. The class itself is spent mostly watching videos and viewing old slides of McKinstry treking through the jungle wearing only his boxers. An interesting class!!

This is my second class with McKinstry, and this guys says ok gang to many times, but he is a good guy and the material is not hard at all and some what exciting. Easy general ed upper division course

Awesome professor. Presents material in a clear and easily understandable way. This textbook is written by the professor and he shows a movie in every class session. Grades very fair. Take him if possible.

I found this class extremely boring but it was not because of McKinstry. He knows what he is talking about and is a very fair grader, because I thought for sure I was getting a D or D- and somehow ended up with a C. But take him only if the material sounds interesting to you or if you're totally stuck like I was.

"OK GANG" get used to hearing this all quarter (lol). This guy is a great teacher and

Awesome professor. Two midterms and one final. the final is 75% from the other tests. assigns one paper which is just a book report. very approachable, and thanks to him i became very interested in Japan. take him if you can, he is awesome. but the ok gang thing can get a little old though

I really liked Dr. McKinstry. He's very enthusiastic and really likes teaching. He has a good sense of humor and pokes fun at himself. The class is pretty good. Sometimes I got a little bored but not very often. His tests aren

I don't know what the person below me is thinking but McKinstry is the shit. He's down to earth, and very pro student. He does make some crude, but still very funny jokes. You will learn a lot in his class, but you do have to put some effort into this class to get an A. But the class is easy.

Worst professor EVER! He was a rambling little irish man or whatever the hell, i would rather eat bean dip with my fingernails that sit through another lecture with this dufus

I would totally disagree with the comment below. Prof.McKinstry is a really nice professor - his lectures are really interesting, and he is willing to help if you seek help from him. He is really funny, and this class was enjoyable than any other GE class I have ever taken. Well, if you don't care about the subject, then that is a different story. I agree that his tests are a little tricky. I got a B (82%) in the first one, but I could figure out his tricking strategy, and I ended up getting 98% and 96% on the second mid-term and final respectively. No, I am not a nerd, and I am not a SOC major (or an art major for that matter). I used to start reading the case studies only like 3-4 days before the test. For the term paper, I started reading only like 5-6 days before it was due. In general, it is not a good idea, but my point is that it is not that difficult. Taking notes during lecture and video sessions is always a good idea, and that would help during tests. Prof.McKisntry did post study guides in Blackboard, but he didn't announce it in class. I wasn't aware of this during the first test, and I could have done better in the first test if I was aware of this. He replies to emails pretty promptly. Overall, he is a great, interesting and rational professor, and it is a fairly easy GE class. To get an A in this class is not a mountainous job (I was taking 15 units in summer).

McKinstry is a good teacher and his lectures are interesting. BUT, the guy can't write a test to save his life. Or write a study guide for that matter. For the final there were four things on the study guide that we never covered in class and that weren't in the book but we were tested on it anyway. His lectures are somewhat disorganized so he probably just forgot to mention some of the stuff. I learned a lot in his class but the test questions were poorly written, ambiguous and had mulitple choice answers like a,a,b,c,d. or a,c,d,e. I never got an A on the tests but somehow got an A in the class. What does that tell you. He must curve like crazy. If you don't think you're doing well, hang in there. You might be at the top of the class.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PAY ATTENTION AND READ HIS BOOK WHICH IS PRETTY GOOD IF YOU ASK ME!

i hated this class..i really had to force myself to go..but mckinstry is not the reason.. he really is a nice teacher. i just couldn't stand the boring ass lectures. as long as you READ all the material you should do fine on the midterms and final..it's 80 multiple choice and 1 essay..so it sucks after a while but just do the reading. he shows a movie every class period..and asks a couple questions on the movie on the tests..but i don't think it was enough questions to have an effect on the grade. most of his test questions come from the material. lets you go about 30 min early every class period..can't complain about that. overall..an okay teacher, a pretty cruddy class..(unless you like history i just don't like history)

An overall very interesting class! I am a big history and sociology buff so take this class if you really like this history of contemporary civilizations. Otherwise, you'll just find the shit McKinstry talks about boring. Seriously, don't take this class unless you like learning about Iran, conflicts between the Hindus and Muslims in India, ethnic cleansing, etc.

Dr. Mckinstry is awesome. He and Kerbo are no doubt the best sociology instructors at Poly. This class was extremely interesting. You learn a lot. it can be somewhat depressing, but he makes it fun with his corky sense of humor. The tests aren't bad, but you need to do the reading and go to class. He wrote the text himself, and its a clear and easy read. The paper is basically a 3-5 page book report. Don't put it off until the last minute and you'll do fine. Take this class if you can.

McKinstry is an okay professor. He means well and is a super nice guy, but he is very very dry. It was impossible for me to stay awake in his 9 am lecture, but luckily everything he says in lecture is in the book. I literally did not go to a single class between the 1st and 2nd midterms, and only 1 before the final, and I still pulled a B. You write one super easy paper at the end of the quarter, but other than that the workload is zilch. Pretty easy grade, really nice professor.

Pretty good teacher. He kept the class interesting and was pretty easy. Just go to the lectures, write a paper at the end of the quarter and u will pass.

First off, I'll admit that I absolutely love history and am captivated by it. Having said that, I honestly think that this class is not only one that everyone should take but is doable for everyone. The material is very accessible, especially with the way he writes in his text (its a small 10 dollar booklet with six case studies in it). The writing is dense, because it is going over a lot of history and information, but at the same time, it is quirky and easy to read. His lectures compliment the reading well. Most of what is said in lecture is found in the book, but for some, it may hit better with the way he presents the material in class. As well, he shows A LOT of videos, almost at least one a class, sometimes two. There are questions about them specifically on the tests, so you should go to watch them (as they are interesting as well. Be prepared for a full lecture, straight from 12:10-1:50 (thats the time I had it). He takes no breaks, but his style is engaging and interesting enough to keep your attention for the full period. As I said before, he seldom talks the entire time as he often shows videos. He is very approachable, cracks jokes all the time to lighten the mood on this often depressing material, and his class is not too difficult. The tests are not breezy, but they are not impossibly difficult. You certainly have to know your stuff for the tests (there are three, which consist of 80 m/c questions and one 10 point short answer question) to pass them with a good grade. Just be sure to read, as there are a lot of details in the test that he does not go over in the class. As mentioned, there is one essay. It is very easy (he admits that it is a high school level assignment) so do not be too worried about that. Overall, I absolutely loved this class. I feel so much more informed about the conflicts that happen around the world. You will leave this class with a deeper understanding of conflict that wont allow you to just write off conflicts that happen to something miniscule. You will understand the deep roots that a lot of these conflicts actually have. Please take it, it wont rule your life, it wont stress you out too much and you'll come out of it so much better than before.

Great teacher-really really knows this subject inside and out. this was one of the easiest classes ive had. muliple choice tests right out of his book which reads just like he speaks lol. i had no problem with his lectures but you dont need to go religiously. he does ask questions off the numerous videos and you do go early every day so its no big sacrifice to show up. we did one little book report-about 3-4 pages tops. wasnt hard to do and he doesnt like long reports.

I really enjoyed this class. It was like story time. He tells you all about his experiences in Japan and you just sit back and enjoy. There are three exams and two reading reports. The reading reports are ridiculously easy and the exams aren

I don't know what is wrong with the people below. I never say the teacher to be crude or in anyway against women and fat people. I wonder if they even took the same teacher. McKinstry is a good teacher. Yes he is late to class each day but when you have a class right before it is better for the student and if you don't, well you know that he is going to be late so take your time. It isn't his fault if he is low on tests, teachers give department aids the tests and they make the copies, if they don't have the right amount it doesn't mean that it's the teacher's fault. He does throw in stories about his life when it comes to Japan but it makes the class a bit more interesting and isn't it nice to know that he has good movies to go along with almost every class. It helps in the classes and breaks up constant talking from teachers. Take the class, it's interesting and it is an easy enough class as long as you go over the study guide that he gives you before the test.

I guess I can see where other people are coming from, he does go off on tangent stories, but for me they make the lecture interesting. I went to Japan last year for Study Abroad, so most of the stuff he says I have first hand experience with, which makes it like a walk down memory lane. Anyhoo, the tests are pretty straight forward, he gives you a study guide of terms. Videos everyday, it's humorous to see his reaction to the VCR or the TV when it blares static. Take this class if you like Japan, or not, cause it will open your mind. Understanding the world is a good thing. Peace

McKinstry is a funny guy. His jokes are corny but enjoyable. Other than his occasional wit however, he is extremely. He puts you to sleep with his lectures and his videos from the 1980s. However, paying attention in lecture is not needed because it is all in his own textbook that is easy and interesting to read. He gives study guides for the 2 midterms and the final which help a lot. There are also 2 pretty easy papers on Japanese culture. I studied for about 3 hours for each test and wound up with a very high A. If you put in 5 nights of hard work in for the quarter an A is easily attainable.

It was a fun little elective class. It's a good history lesson on ancient Japan that was surprisingly easy to remember. The tests are very much related to the book he wrote and the class was ultra laid back. I took it during a 21 unit quarter and the content piqued my interest without taking the whole thing too seriously. McKinstry's tangents are pretty incredible sometimes and he has some outdated lingo but I liked him. Take this class if you're interested in visiting Japan someday.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.