POLI 3570
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict · 1 instructor on record · 2 sections
Boston College's ratings are bunched at the top — the median instructor averages about 88 out of 100 on the raw scale, and 44% of them clear 90 — so a raw score cannot separate anybody. Every figure here is ranked against BC classes and that rank is re-expressed out of 100, which is what turns a raw 88 — the middle of the university — into a figure that says where somebody actually stands. On this scale 77 is the median, 84 the top quarter and 91 the top tenth. Workload is then an adjustment on top of that, worth nothing at all for an ordinary one. Lighter work than 22% of BC classes.
The class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it — who taught it is the board below.
How is this worked out?
That is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between: the board carries each instructor's own score for this class, and the score above is the class averaged across all of them.
Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question. It is not a measure of difficulty, grading or workload.
How is this worked out?
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.
One of Boston College's five workload bands, not a number of hours. Higher means more work, not worse.
How is this worked out?
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.
Do not take this course if you previously taken this course under the name "The Arab-Israeli Conflict". This course is class-restricted to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza, and U.S. attempts to successfully negotiate a resolution are only the latest chapters in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The broader struggle, which involves not just Israelis and Palestinians, but also regional states like Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, has been at the core of Middle East politics over the past century. This course will address the origins, dynamics, and effectiveness of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism, the causes of war and peace, and changes in territorial and political control of the region from the early 1900s to the present. Students will learn and analyze the perspectives and behaviors of state and non-state actors on all sides to gain a greater appreciation for a struggle that continues to drive regional dynamics and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. By the conclusion of the course, students will emerge not only with a far richer understanding of the region, its people, and its politics, but also as more sophisticated consumers, analysts, and producers of knowledge. Whatever your background and perspective, you are welcome in this course. You will always be evaluated based on the quality of your effort and performance--not on your political sympathies. Personal attacks and bigoted language are not accepted, but you should be prepared to have your thinking constantly challenged by me and others in the class. The constructive conversations that we have throughout the course will make you a much more knowledgeable and empathetic observer of the region regardless of the extent to which you want to learn and/or advocate thereafter.
| Instructor | Curve | Easiness | Challenge | RMP overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter KrauseAssociate Professor · Political Science Provisional | 9298 raw · 2 records | 68−2 to the score | 93rd | 947 ratings · all classes |
There is no ranking to read here: Peter Krause is the only instructor with evaluation records for POLI 3570, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 2 records, which is thin — read it as provisional. The RateMyProfessors figure is their overall score across everything they teach, not their score in this class.
Also taught by Peter Krause
6 other classes| Class | Instructors | Course score |
|---|---|---|
| INTL 2501Introduction to International Relations | 754 records | 81 |
| POLI 3527Terrorism, Insurgency, and Political Violence | 110 records | 90 |
| POLI 1202Research Methods and Political Violence | 17 records | 97 |
| INTL 3541Research Methods in Political Science | 13 records | 93 |
| POLI 1207Research Methods and Political Violence II | 13 records | 92 |
| POLI 4593International Relations of the Middle East | 11 record | 88 |
Other POLI classes
All of them| Class | Instructors | Course score |
|---|---|---|
| POLI 1021How to Rule the World: Introduction to Political Theory | 645 records | 82 |
| POLI 1041Fundamental Concepts of Politics | 1037 records | 76 |
| POLI 2360Seminar: Rights in Conflict | 923 records | 84 |
| POLI 1042Introduction to Modern Politics | 519 records | 83 |
| POLI 2665The Question of Justice | 919 records | 80 |
| POLI 2440A Continent on the Move: Immigration in Contemporary Europe | 110 records | 86 |
The line
All 13 items · means across 2 recordsBars are ranks, not raw scores. Nothing here is graded good or bad.
What each item asks
- Explains Clearly
- The instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.
- Available
- The instructor was available for help outside of class.
- Motivating
- The instructor motivated me to do my best work.
- Sparks Interest
- The course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.
- Organized
- The course was well organized.
- Clear Goals
- The learning objectives for the course were clear.
- Useful Later
- What I learned is applicable beyond this course.
- Assignments
- Assignments and exams contributed to my learning.
- Fast Feedback
- I received feedback on my work in a timely manner.
- Useful Feedback
- The feedback I received on my work was meaningful.
- Workload
- How 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.
- Challenge
- The course was intellectually challenging.
- Attendance
- Attending class was necessary to do well in this course.
Why these numbers are curved
Both the number and the bar are the rank against every comparable record we hold, printed back out of 100. BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so on the raw scale every cell here would read in the high eighties and every bar would be nearly full — thirteen numbers that tell you nothing. Each cell prints its raw BC figure and its percentile underneath, so nothing is hidden by the transform. 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
2 sections · newest first| Instructor | Term | Sec | Instr | Course | Work |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Krause | Fall 2025 | 01 | 99 | 96 | — |
| Peter Krause | Fall 2024 | 01 | 96 | 98 | 60 |
How to read this board
Instructors 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.