Carney Curve

Boston College course evaluations · every published number, ranked class by class

Positions account for how many records stand behind each number, so one perfect review does not outrank a semester of them. Every score shown is the real average — only the ordering is adjusted.

Class record · INTL · MCAS

INTL 3506

Listening to Thucydides: Contingency and Catastrophe in World Politics · 1 instructor on record · 1 section

What the course score is made of
80BC evaluations1 record · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2025
Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute
RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of
48thMore challenging than 48% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
90BC — “Intellectually Challenging”1 record · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of
25thMore work than 25% of BC classesranked against every one we hold
40BC — “Workload”1 record · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

The only instructor on record

1 section · nobody else has taught itFull record
InstructorOverallWorkloadChallenge
Jonathan KirshnerVincent Q. and Mary Ann Giffuni Professor · Political Science Provisional831 record25th48th

There is no ranking to read here: Jonathan Kirshner is the only instructor with evaluation records for INTL 3506, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 1 record, which is thin — read it as provisional.

Also taught by Jonathan Kirshner

6 other classes
ClassInstructorsCourse score
INTL 2501Introduction to International Relations754 records81
INTL 4941International Studies Senior Seminar1022 records84
POLI 1204The Politics of the Seventies Film16 records79
POLI 4933Honors Seminar33 records74
POLI 2515The Politics of International Money and Finance12 records80
POLI 4597Realist Theories of International Relations12 records82

Other INTL classes

All of them
ClassInstructorsCourse score
INTL 2501Introduction to International Relations754 records81
INTL 5563Ethics, Religion, and International Politics848 records89
INTL 4941International Studies Senior Seminar1022 records84
INTL 2204Where on Earth: Foundations in Global Culture & Political Geography220 records88
INTL 2200Where on Earth: Foundations in Global History611 records73
INTL 3540Research Methods in International Studies46 records72

The line

All 13 items · means across 1 record
The Professor4 items
Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
9030th pctl
Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.
9349th pctl
Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.
8717th pctl
Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
8713th pctl
The Course3 items
Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.
9782nd pctl
Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.
8724th pctl
Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.
9033rd pctl
Assignments & Feedback3 items
Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.
8725th pctl
Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
9362nd pctl
Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
8725th pctl
Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings
WorkloadHow much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.
4025th pctl
Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.
9048th pctl
Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.
9361st pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

1 section · newest first
InstructorTermSecInstrCourseWork
Jonathan KirshnerFall 202501838040

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.