Simply exceptional. Harold's enthusiasm for the course never dimmed, and it made every class energetic and exciting. His lessons on writing were extremely helpful (especially for History majors) and his comments on papers always illuminated problems. I didn't find him to be a particularly tough grader, especially after the first analytical essay, where he allowed a redraft (taking my paper from a D+ to an A, and every paper thereafter was an A). He says he isn't teaching the course again, which is a shame.

I really enjoyed taking this class. Harold's enthusiasm for history and foreign relations is awesome. He's a great lecturer, very articulate, and narrates historical events in such a way that it seems he's telling a story. He's more than willing to help out students during his office hours. There are 3 short analytical essays and, of course, the final term paper, which is a 9-10 page research paper. There is also a fun (but intense) crisis simulation, where students act as members of the US government and deal with a crisis. There is a significant amount of reading involved, but if you want to get the most out of this class, then definitely participate in discussions about the readings. I highly recommend taking this class.

Harold is a great teacher, he's excited about the subject and really cares about his students. Assigns about 3 essays for the semesters with some small writing assignments in between. He's really focused on the historical information that you include so if you don't like history, this might not be the class for you

Harold's a great and knowledgeable teacher, made this class interesting, and will go out of his way to help you. It's helpful to have some interest in international relations but it wasn't hard to be a part of discussions even if you didn't