Teaching Evaluations

Student Testimonials

Here is a small selection of what my students, at Berkeley and DKU, have to say about my teaching.

This is one of the best courses I have taken at DKU! It was very well-structured and engaging. I have never been able to keep my focus during a 2.5 hours class session, but during this course the time was flying by and I was leaving class with a lot of knowledge each time.

(Political Economy of Institutions, Spring 2025)

Prof. Brown is a responsible and considerate educator who has been teaching this course excellently throughout the whole session. He combined the discussion with lecture perfectly so that the class is neither boring, nor unordered. At the same time, he is also a very warm-hearted man who relates to students.

(International Political Economy, Spring 2025)

Before taking this course, my expectation of POLECON 301 was just another obligatory but dull class, but Prof. Junius Brown completely transformed my perspective for polecon with his teaching style and passion and I am really grateful for this. He is really supportive and always helpful.

(International Development, Fall 2023)

Junius is clearly passionate and cares about the students in the class, it helps engage us students much more within his discussion.

(Russian Politics, Fall 2022)

Simply the best GSI I have had at Berkeley. Very knowledgeable and will answer any question you have to the best of his ability.

(Dictatorship and Its Discontents, Spring 2022)

Everything was explained brilliantly in a very simplified manner that could be understood by everyone.

(Urban and Subnational Politics in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, Fall 2021)

Junius was very clear when explaining concepts and he was able to connect everything very well back to the course material. He also put an obvious amount of time into our course worksheets and made sure everybody was understanding the course work.

(Introduction to Comparative Politics, Spring 2021)

Probably the best discussion section I’ve had at Berkeley so far–extremely well organized, good command of the material. Nobody was ever put on the spot, It truly felt like an environment conducive to learning.

(Varieties of Capitalism, Fall 2020)

Junius is the most challenging GSI I have ever had at Berkeley. He pushed me to be a better student but also to expect more of myself. While I may have been frustrated in the beginning about the grading, I realized that it pushed me to be a better student. For that I am forever thankful for Junius.

(Varieties of Capitalism, Fall 2020)

Junius is an angel. Extremely friendly and compassionate. During this time of pandemic, he has been understanding and accommodating. I have on two occasions faced pandemic related issues and Junius was so kind and went out of his way to accommodate me, I am very grateful to him… Of my classes, only Junius smoothly transitioned to virtual learning while maintaining an engaging section.

(Japanese Politics, Spring 2020)

Junius is exceptionally good at two things.
1) Pulling out the stuff from lecture that actually matters… Junius is excellent at zeroing in on the stuff we actually have to know to pass the class.
2) Explaining complex concepts. He knows which stuff from lecture is confusing and needs more attention, and he explains it quite succinctly, often times better than the professor did.

(Japanese Politics, Spring 2020)

Statistical Summary

And since I take pride in using mixed methods in my work, here are some qualitative data from those same evaluation forms:

The numbers in the table above are based on end-of-semester course evaluations distributed to students by UC Berkeley. Course names are shortened for brevity. The full questions are listed below; students entered answers on a 1-7 Likert scale.

The instructor explained concepts in an organized manner.
The instructor explained concepts clearly.
The instructor was helpful when I had difficulties or questions.
The instructor provided clear constructive feedback.
The instructor encouraged student questions and participation.

Considering both the limitations and possibilities of the subject matter and this course, how would you rate the overall effectiveness of the graduate student instructor?

The bar chart below compares the average ratings at the bottom of this table to the average ratings provided by the department (also averaged across all semesters which I taught). Note that the departmental average includes both GSIs and faculty.