Williams, Jean  

Political Science

3.20/4.00

20 evaluations


POLS 180


Freshman
N/A
Required (Major)
Dec 2002
Well she is a very nice person, but that doesn't go far in this world. The course is very dry and boring, I fall asleep everyday I have that class. It's not so much that the material is boring, but her monotone voice just puts me to sleep, along with the fact that we spend almost all of class debating the same subject and her notes are incomplete. When she lectures she has a tendency to to stop midsentence or midpoint and move on to another subject. But don't get me wrong she is very knoweldgeable of the material and a great person, she just does not know how to grab my attenion or the attention of most of my class mates.


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Jan 2003
Professor Williams knows what she is talking about. I would recomend her for any POLS class, especially POLS 180. The reading is very boring, but make sure to do it. Take good notes, and you'll do fine.


Junior
B
Required (Major)
Jan 2003
Dr. Williams is incredibly friendly and clearly knows the material that she is teaching. However, her class lectures are very, VERY, dry and dull. They are easy to follow and take notes on but only if you are able to stay awake during them. The assignments in the class are a bit on the difficult side but should not be a problem for you if you read the text. The tests are fair but they are a hard to study for. Some of the test questions came from nowhere. Overall, Dr. Williams is a highly approachable and intelligent professor, but her torturous lectures and slightly unpredictable tests prevent me from scoring her higher.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Feb 2003
Professor William's lectures are easy to understand and follow, especially since she puts her lecture outlines on overheads. Her tests are fair, and she throws out any questions too many people get wrong. Make sure that you do the reading though. I would recommend taking her class.


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Feb 2003
I know that Dr. Williams is not the greatest teacher ever... but for all those polysci majors out there, she is one of the best teachers in our department!!!! Take her rather than any of the others. She is sweet, a little boring, but keeps discussions going, and is generally your best choice.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Feb 2003
This class rocked!! If you love discussions and speaking up in class, she will love you!! She remembers all of her students names, and she presents all info very clearly in an outline format. If you go to class and participate then you will get an A. Her tests are fair and there were only a few short assigments that were easy. Do the reading and understand the concepts and you will do well. Take this professor if you can, she is one of the best!


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Dec 2005
I really enjoyed Dr. Williams. She was very nice and understanding and extremely knowledgeable. Her assignments really weren't that hard and her exams weren't too bad either. I'm not much of a test-taker, which is why I got a B in the class. Other than that, the material was fairly easy to understand and the reading wasn't too bad either. It wasn't my favorite class, but it wasn't the worst either.

WS 301


Junior
B
General Ed
Jul 2010
I really didn\'t like going to this class. Dr. Williams\' lectures were really boring and irrelevant. I learned absolutely nothing in this class. She assigned a lot of reading, but hardly ever talked about it or related it to anything. She threatened with reading quizzes, but there were only two all quarter, each with only two questions. You do need to be familiar with the readings for the midterm and final though. The midterm was part multiple choice, part essay and the final is entirely essay. The other assignment is a \"Gender Bender\" paper, which is pretty stupid, but easy enough to bull shit your way through. MY BIGGEST COMPLAINT though is that she makes her political opinions obvious, then asks the class to participate in the discussion, then when someone disagrees with her opinion, she gets pissy and argues with them as if to try and change their mind on THEIR opinion. Biased much?? Eventually it seemed like everyone gave up trying to participate in class. Oh, and she isn\'t very helpful in office hours. She is kind of bitchy and hard to talk to, actually. And that\'s coming from someone who can talk to just about anyone. Take someone else if you can.

POLS 310


Senior
B
General Ed
Apr 2002
I had to take a USCP and decided on this one. It turned out to be a relatively easy and interesting class. I got a B+, but an A is definitely do able. Class consisted of talking about the readings, which were usually interesting discussions. There are no midterms or a final, only 3 short papers ~3 pgs., one 4 pg. personal paper and then a group presentation at the end of the quarter. Overall very enjoyable, and she is able to communicate well and is very enthusiastic about the subject. I would recommend this class to anyone. Just be aware that though the readings aren't too hard, you must do them to know what's going on.


Junior
B
Elective
Jun 2008
This class is great for all you POLS majors to get your USCP requirement out of the way as well as one of your upper division electives. Not too hard, just a couple papers and a group presentation. NO tests, but quite a bit of reading. Jean is very nice and willing to help students with their questions. Class is pretty much open discussion about the weekly topic and readings that she has assigned.


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Oct 2011
She is a really nice and her classes are enjoyable to go to. For her 310 class, you need to always do the readings (but they dont really take up to much time) b/c she gives pop quizzes on them (easy if youve read). There is two 2 page papers, two four page papers, and a group project. There is no midterm/final. It sounds like a lot of writing but its not its all spread out. And the group project is quarter long, graded easy, and pretty fun/interesting because it is self led. Overall: she is nice, a favorable grader, and 310 is an easy class that doesnt take up to much time (good USCP class for non-liberal arts majors to take).

POLS 338


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Jun 2002
If you want to argue a lot in class about mainly democratic stances on political issues this class is for you. The proffesor is obviously a liberal democrat who likes to turn the class over the students to debate about current issues. If you are a softie who doesn't want terrorists to have their phones tapped or if you like dedicating your time to the homeless and less fortunate this class is for you. If you are like me and dont really see anything wrong with the death penalty etc. then you will get to yell at some fellow classmates etc. Overall a fun class.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2016
Terrible professor. Avoid at all costs. Will stab you in the back with a smile. Woefully liberal and very narrow hips which make lectures weird. Ok that last part isn't really consequential but I thought I'd mention it anyway because she seriously sucks.


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2018
Dr. Williams obviously understands her field in depth. She always comes to class prepared and her powerpoints tend to be exactly what she says in class, so most times you don't really need to take your own notes as long as you're paying attention. The activities she assigns give students a chance to discuss their personal political beliefs as well as work collaboratively in order to do well on projects. The most difficult parts of this class were the amount of reading assigned as well as a lack of knowing what's on her tests beforehand. (Again, just pay attention and you'll do fine) In general, she's a great teacher if you enjoy studying political science and I would personally recommend her to many of my peers.

POLS 345


Freshman
N/A
Elective
May 2010
I took Dr. Williams to full my ucsp and thought it would be an easy class. Well it was easy, but coming to class was the biggest waste of time all quarter. I DO NOT recommend taking her. She has you read about 30 pages per homework assignment and then you take a 2 question 10 point quiz. There is absolutely no discussion on what we\'ve read and she is one of the most boring professors I have ever had. Going to class I never payed attention because what she was saying was incredibly dumb and was pretty much common knowledge anyways. DO NOT TAKE HER.

POLS 360


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Jul 2008
She was a great teacher and very interesting! She really gets you to participate in class and feel comfortable doing so. Very available in office hours and doesn't make you feel dumb when asking questions. Fairly easy grader on papers as well. Highly recommend her!

POLS 419


Junior
A
Required (Major)
May 2009
Professor Williams is an amazing woman! She demonstrates the impecible poly professor and she really throws herself into the material she lectures on. she really likes it when people speak up and participate in class participation but expect follow up questions so don't just throw some random info out there. There are three analytical 2 page papers, one substantial 11 page paper and then a take home final exam with two essay responses. I strongly encourage you to go to office hours because she likes it when people are enthusiastic like her on social movement theory. If your class doesn't speak up in the beginning of the quarter she will give pop quizzes so do the reading. Easy class, easy A, and great professor.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Oct 2010
She communicates the material in a manner that students can understand and she seems to truly enjoy teaching.You will learn a lot and the work load is manageable. IF YOU ARE CONSERVATIVE, RIGHT LEANING, REPUBLICAN OR ANYONE WHO DOES NOT AGREE WITH A FAR LEFT AGENDA I would keep my opinions to myself.

POLS 470


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Apr 2003
This is the second class I have taken with Dr. Williams this year. She is very enthusiastic and passionate about the subjects she teaches. There wasn't a midterm, but a lot of papers and one ten page research paper, plus two five page papers for the final. I recommend her for any political science class. She is very easy to talk to. Go to her office hours if you need greater clarification and dont be afraid to speak up in her class. She never puts any one down. She is the best teacher I have had this year.

POLS 481


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Apr 2004
I've taken williams a couple of times (POLS 180 and social movements of the 1960's) and she has been really easy to work with. She doesn't give an easy A, but gives one when it is earned. she is really easy to talk with after class and explains things really well. This time around, I had her as my senior project advisor. she gave great input and was willing to read my 50 page parer a couple of times just to help me earn my A.