Pros: funny, videos here and there, uses real world examples/stories

Cons: hard to understand at times, don't get exams back, exams written in a way he speaks, power-points are not really helpful, does not provide good study guides for exams

Very easy grader. The tests are easy and are exactly like the review he does the day before in class. If you attend most classes and do the extra credit service-learning opportunity, you should be fine.

I took the online version of this class, and judging by the comments he is truly night and day when it comes to online and actual lecture. Before you blow me off let me say that I will most likely get a 3.5 in this class, so I didn't slack off whatsoever. Let me start off that the times I've tried to contact him through e-mail a couple of times before the final exam, he has been extremely lazy with it, and had me frustrated. He hasn't returned one yet and the final exam has already been finished.



Another big problem with his online class is the quizzes and final exam. There's so many typos on them, to the point that it ruins the actual question itself, which could leave you confused as to which way to answer. Even simple spell and grammar check could fix this. For example, on one question one of his answers had surfs instead of serfs when it came to Feudalism after the fall of the roman empire. I took the benefit of the doubt, but it's stuff like this that can make you frustrated.



The last thing I like to finish with is the tremendous amount of reading that you have to do in this class. YES you do 17 weeks worth of reading in six weeks is not a joke, so you can kiss half your summer goodbye if you take this class. The only saving grace is that people have posted previous quizzes in this class, so it does help somewhat, but even then it does seem he pulls his questions from the air.



Bottom line, I feel this class is probably the worst online class I have taken here at MSU in terms of organization and the crazy load of work you have to do. If you still want to take this class, take it at your own risk, and if you could I would probably wait until the fall or spring to take it.

Fayyaz is a really cool professor- he's funny and he gives really interesting examples. Sometimes his lectures are a little boring, but most of the time you leave with something in your head.



Downside: This is a class where it involves a lot of memorization- what type of school of thought this is, who believed in this type of society, what directly resulted from a certain event (in the idea of percentages and number of people).



For someone like me, who prefers to connect everything together, I found it really hard to remember everything, even though I did attend every class and sit in the front row.



Also- he constantly wakes up other students and sometimes embarrasses them. Personally, I hate it when attention is drawn away from the class- and it will happen EVERY class.



The structure is divided up into three exams in which the lowest one gets dropped. There is also the final, which is a major part of the grade, and participation points during class, as well as attendance, which is used by the i-clicker.



It is true that he uses a lot of the previous exam questions- but if you ONLY study the previous exam, you're likely to get only a 75% on the exam- which does not add up to much grade wise.



In conclusion: Everybody needs an ISS. It's not completely horrible, but at the same time- unless you're good at memorizing 50+ answers and sitting through two hour lectures that can sometimes be boring, shocking, (and after some research) a little prejudiced, I would recommend looking into other classes. But it's not a total fail.



All in all- if you have to take this class, or are really good as memo

What a wonderful professor. Here was his eloquent goodbye e-mail:



Dear student,



I would like to extend my warmest thanks to you for being a wonderful student in my class. I am a big admirer of your generation. Overwhelming majority of you is honest, hardworking, and dedicated. Your generation strongly believes in social and economic justice, global peace, and environment friendly capitalism. I hope and wish that you will be able to materialize these ideal beliefs.



Very large class size did not give me an opportunity to know most of you personally but I will remember your aspiring and smiling faces for a long time. But eventually your pictures will fade into memories. These are the realities of life.



Those of you who are graduating in these tough economic times, I wish you every success in your personal and professional life. In closing, I encourage you to please keep in touch with me and visit me for informal conversations, lunch, or a dinner. I will be around in summer. Remember, you are part of my history and I am part of your history. Have a great summer.



Sincerely,



Fayyaz



Interesting class which I highly recommend. Do the service learning!

Pros: He is extremely passionate about the social sciences, considering he's from Pakistan and loves America (pretty unbiased). He also has clicker questions in class that serve as quiz points and typically end up on the exam (so write them down!)



VERY FUNNY! Also sends e mails occasionally to students and will offer an extra basketball or football ticket to the games with him. I'd recommend him for ISS

Cons: Difficult to understand the first 2 or 3 classes, but you DO learn what he means and he is ALWAYS willing to pause or rephrase something that may be confusing.

He offers extra credit through service learning to raise your grade 0.5. You have to do a minimal amount of volunteering at a school of your choice and write a brief summary of your experience; you receive an award for it.



If you know anyone who has taken either his 200 level OR 300, the class is almost the same. You can use the basic notes/outlines and test formats which are a perk.

lets not lie.... fayyaz is great. i especially loved the emails that he would send his class from vacation.... kinda creepy.... FOOL PROOF WAY TO GET A 4.0 IN HIS CLASS: GO TO THE CLASSIFIDES AND POST THAT YOU WANT TO BUY SOMEONES EXAMS FROM LAST SEMESTER.... THEY ARE NEARLY THE SAME!!!! no joke... i had the exams from the fall and summer previous when i took it in the spring... on the final, i knew over 75% of the answers simply because they were copied and pasted. way to go fayyaz! take this stupid U requirement with him

I hated this class. The prof is hard to understand and a lot of the test questions didn't make sense. I studied hard and never managed to get above a 3.0 on any of the tests. The only extra credit is service learning and 1% for attendance. The reading is ridiculously boring, for those who even bother to read it.

I give this class what i got in it... nice guy... kinda weird, tough exams... all multiple choice, weird wording in all questions, lots of studying to do well...make sure you are at the lectures because he takes random attendance.

I also took this section online, and I didn't do any work whatsoever and got a 2.5. The notes on Angel are useless and don't show up half the time (also they didn't print -- had to copy/paste into word to print), and like someone else said, the quiz study guides weren't study guides at all -- they just said how many questions there would be. After the first quiz, I stopped doing the reading, because the questions were on the most random things, and even if I had taken notes, I would never have taken notes on the things that ended up as questions. Since we had an hour to do the quizzes, I just looked them up as I went along and that seemed to work out okay. Also, at the beginning of class, our quizzes were supposed to be at 6PM on Mondays, Michigan time. I was in California all summer, and it was 3PM there, whenI was in class for a different program. I e-mailed him, asking if there was any way I could log into the program at a later time that day due to my other school situation, and he sent me kind of a rude e-mail back saying that there was no way around it, and that kids in India were taking the class which required them to do it at 4AM. I was kind of put off by that, because it wasnt that *I* felt like I was personally inconvenienced, I just had class for another program I couldn't get out of. I didn't like being compared to other kids who weren't even in the same situation as me. It ended up being a moot point though, because he switched the tests to Wednesdays when I got out of school early.

Fayyaz is AWESOME. He is so funny and a really sweet man. He genuinely cares about his students (even though he will call out those who are texting or sleeping; it's because he cares & wants you to know the information!)



He has a thick accent, but you will get used to it. It adds to his charm. :) His class is pretty boring at times because it is a 2 hour lecture; but he uses stories/examples that aren't in the notes or books that WILL show up on the exams. It is very important you attend all lectures to get good notes, hear the stories/examples/videos, and to get attendance points.



His exams are mostly common sense - but are tricky if you do not study hard or read. I REALLY SUGGEST READING THE BOOKS (I didn't.. and I regret it: my 86%s on the exams could have easily been 90+%'s, had I read the book.)



Get copies of old exams from someone who had the class previously - they are very similar format & some of the same questions will pop up.



Fayyaz reviews before each exam & does an in-class review of the chapters that will be on each exam (which helps a lot, but you still will need to read on your own!)



***He offers a Service Learning Program that will bump your grade up .5+ at the end of the semester; I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING THIS! I didn't & I regret it because I think I'll end up just barely missing the 4.0***



Great guy. Great professor. Great class. Take it!

I took this online during the summer. The design was terrible. I had Hussain previously for ISS 215 and I enjoyed his class. DO NOT take online. I expect a 3.5 out of this class, but I think it's a terrible class. There is a ton of reading (but most of it you don't even have to read, just read chapter summaries). He made us buy the course pack, then posted it on the website at the last moment. I should add that much of the course pack was the same material from ISS 215. The test questions are obscure and many of them are not even in the material the question specifically points to. There were MILLION typos, the questions were written in a confusing grammatical style (I don't know if it's because he has ESL or not) and just did not make sense. the tests aren't even hard, just poorly written! The man is a terrible test writer. He sent class messages through regular MSU email instead of ANGEL so unless you checked your email right before the test, you miss out on important announcements. In short, this online design was terrible and seemingly put together at the last moment without too much thought. Class grade is based entirely on tests with the final worth 40%! Worst online class I've ever taken, worst class as far as tests I've ever taken.

Professor Hussain is a great speaker. He is very passionate about what he is speaking about and there is no doubt that he knows what he is talking about. He has an accent but he speaks very slow and clearly so it has never been a problem for me. The only things that I didn't like about this class were that 1-His tests have a TON of material on them. They aren't hard really because a lot of it is common sense but its just a lot to study for. 2-This class is so damn liberal! Its weird because he is always talking about a hidden agenda that conservatives use but he totally lets his views slip out...they don't slip out they come out and slap you in the face. He does give both views but it isn't always fair. It was always a little bit frustrating for me, but he always says 'You don haf to agree wit me guyees!" He seems like a nice guy but he isn't always so nice when you want to speak to him in person. I would be afraid to go to his office hours even if I needed to. He gives a break in the middle of class which is nice and we almost always get let out early. His lectures are neat and orderly, and it is important to go to class because his notes are very thourough and he says a lot of important stuff. Good teacher overall.

Flat out, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR MAJOR! If you're just looking to fill a general education requirement DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE! It is WAY too hardcore for anyone not totally passionate about the subject.



Tests are extremely difficult. Very analytical and tricky with many "none of the above" and "all of the above". You can study all you want, but if you don't grasp every concept like the back of your hand, you will not do well. I'm 4.0ing every class but this one, where I'm barely maintaining a 3.0. DO THE SERVICE LEARNING!!!!



Also, there is a LOT of reading. Be prepared to sit down and read about 10+ hours per exam. And he actually goes through the reading and picks it apart so skimming is not an option.



Current events are tested in this course too. If you're not a regular of CNN, be warned.



HOWEVER, I will give him credit for knowing what he's talking about and being engaging in his lectures. For someone like myself who has no interest in this subject whatsoever, some of the stuff actually got me mildly intrigued. He's a smart guy, but a tough professor. Unless you have a good background in politics and world economy, again, stay away.

My favorite thing about Dr. Hussain is the fact that he can be a really funny and pleasant guy, even though when you wouldn't even consider it a possibility when you first see him. He might not seem like it based on his tone sometimes during lecture, but he really is a nice guy once you get to know him, and he wants students to do well. One con against him was that i felt the material was a bit too broad for a 300 level course - I have honestly had harder 200 level courses. He also spends too much time spouting his political opinions. Granted, I agree with him on a lot of them, but he's paid to teach, not give us his opinions on stuff. I'll give him credit for admitting to being a huge liberal and telling students "You don't have to agree with me", but I don't think profs should incorporate political opinions into class discussions, or even commonly held opinions, i.e., we feel sorry for the starving children of the world, Saddam Hussein sucks, etc. (BTW, he's not related, something he may share with you on the first day of class as a disclaimer. I'll never forget, "My last name is Hussain...It is not a popular name these days. :-) "

Pros: Easy easy easy!

Cons: He takes attendance every lecture and his lectures are SO BORING

Here's my advice: Go and sit through class for the attendance points, but bring your laptop and surf facebook the whole time. He lectures are BORING. However, he tells many stories and shows videos are those are super important for the exams. SUPER IMPORTANT. So pay attention when he is telling stories.



Get the old exams online and just look them over a few times before the exam, and you'll be fine!

Also, definitely participate in Service Learning because he'll take your class grade up from a 2.0 to 2.5, or 3.0 to a 3.5 or 3.5 to a 4.0. Get it?



Make sure you don't fall asleep in class cause he'll call you out on it.



You don't need the textbooks so don't waste your money!!!!!!!!!!! I wish someone had told me that.



You'll need your iClicker for attendance and in class quizzes. Quizzes are super easy and you can ask your neighbor if you don't know the answer. Just don't let him see you do it.



He's is the most adorable man ever. He says the funniest things without meaning to. He's foreign but not hard to understand at all. I absolutely loved him.

Dr. Hussain is by far the best professor I've had at MSU. For as long as his class is (about 2 hours), he can actually keep my interest for the entire time. And I usually have a very difficult time with this. It does get a bit long sometimes, but the material is really interesting, and he keeps the mood generally light for the most part. DO NOT fall asleep in his class! He will embarass you. But not because he's a jerk. He explains on the first day of class that he does this because he feels that it's an insult to all of his education and time he put into becoming a professor. Which I agree with. Another great thing about him is the fact that he shows you all sides of the story. You don't just get the typical American high school class explanation. You go way right as well as way left. You get everything from Marxism to Capitalism. And he stresses the fact 100 times that he isn't trying to make you believe one thing or the other. He's simply trying to educate you. This is a great professor, I highly recommend him. This is also a great ISS class, too. Even if you can't get him as a teacher. The information is interesting.

I took an online course that he instructed over the summer, and it was by far the easiest course I have ever taken as a student at MSU.



The online course involved no videos and only required reading two books and optional homework assignments. We would have a quiz once a week with 40 questions in one hour. The quiz was online and it consisted of current news, readings from the text, and questions about the optional homework. I litterally did not read one page of the book, did none of the homework, and read no more news articles than I normally do. I got a 4.0, albeit just barely, for doing less than 20 minutes of work outside taking the quizzes for a 4 credit class.



It is ridiculous that I paid $1200 for a course that asked absolutely nothing from me. I am a little embarrassed for my University that a class like this even exists. It is clear that Hussain set this course up so that absolutely nothing was required of him and he could enjoy his summer.



I guess I am happy that I got an easy A, but it just make me feel like I go to a second rate university.

Prof. Hussain:



Let's forget that he is a flaming liberal cuz... so am I. Let's forget about what grades people are getting... cuz, despite the fact that I did well in his class, that's not what's important. What's important is that I would go get a beer with this guy any day of the week because he's fascinating. However, as a teacher his information was just flat out wrong. His definitions of the World Bank and WTO are flat out incorrect. It's even worse on information that's less arbitrary like "What are the leading gasses that create ozone depletion?" Carbon Monoxide was marked as a wrong answer. Maybe this doesn't matter to anyone but me. But, my concern is that this is a 300 level class at a Big 10 University and this information is being disseminated as fact. I have a good friend who works for the U.S. government in a related field and she was horrified by his tests. So whether you like him as a person or you have issues with foreign professors or you got a good grade is inconsequential if the information we receive is false.

Looking for easy way out to satisfy your general ISS requirement? Unlike many of the professors, Dr. Hussein is very organized in his lecture. I wanted to switch out of his class when I "read" his textbook requirements. But, he makes the same blah blah crap on textbooks so much simpler to understand when you go to his lectures. Yes, he says to read your assigned chapters, but you can get most of those questions right by paying attention in exam review sessions and maybe skimming conclusions.

**Get hold of old exams b/c even though he says he doesn't put any of those old questions, HE DOES. More than 50%? Some are reworded/rearranged...**

Seriously, I think he is one of the best teachers I've had.

You think he's biased? Well, maybe he is, but he doesn't force you to believe whatever he believes in. Communism isn't evil as the person below thinks. Why would US gov have banned teaching about Karl Marx in US colleges for awhile?