Class record · POLI · MCAS

POLI 4597

Realist Theories of International Relations · 1 instructor on record · 2 sections

What the course score is made of

82BC evaluations2 records · weight ×1.0 · Spring 2022 – Fall 2024

—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

92ndMore challenging than 92% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

98BC — “Intellectually Challenging”2 records · 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

78thMore work than 78% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

60BC — “Workload”2 records · 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.

Class restricted to sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students. "Realism" is often invoked in international relations to mean many different things. By policymakers, it is often cited as a source of support for--and opposition to--the use of force by the U.S. in world politics. By scholars, the term realism has been deployed as a rhetorical weapon (implying opponents are "unrealistic"), as a challenge to well-intended but "utopian" foreign policies, and, often, in an academic context, as a synonym for "structuralism," which it need not be. In this course, we will look closely and critically at the tradition of realism in International Relations Theory, both to find out exactly what realism does stand for and to see how it can help us better understand world politics more generally.

The only instructor on record

2 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge
Jonathan KirshnerVincent Q. and Mary Ann Giffuni Professor · Political Science Provisional	852 records	78th	92nd

There is no ranking to read here: Jonathan Kirshner is the only instructor with evaluation records for POLI 4597, so the number is a record, not a position. It rests on 2 records, which is thin — read it as provisional.

Also taught by Jonathan Kirshner

6 other classes

Class	Instructors	Course score
INTL 2501Introduction to International Relations	754 records	81
INTL 4941International Studies Senior Seminar	1022 records	84
POLI 1204The Politics of the Seventies Film	16 records	79
POLI 4933Honors Seminar	33 records	74
POLI 2515The Politics of International Money and Finance	12 records	80
POLI 7802International Political Economy	12 records	85

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 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

8513th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

8716th pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

8514th pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9555th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

8522nd pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

774th pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

9569th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

732nd pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

8835th pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

8212th 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.

6078th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

9892nd 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

2 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Jonathan Kirshner	Fall 2024	01	80	80	60
Jonathan Kirshner	Spring 2022	01	90	83	60

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.