Risa Kitagawa Amano is a Political Science professor at Northeastern University rated 4.79/5 on Rate My Professors by 28 students, with 2.9/5 RMP difficulty and 86% who would take them again (RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated October 2026).
Risa Kitagawa Amano professor reviews and ratings: 4.79/5 from 28 RMP ratings at Northeastern (86% would take again). RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
She is so kind and always takes time to explain difficult concepts. You do have some group projects, and for that I reccomend pairing up with the kids who actually asks questions and do the work.POLS1155 2026-07-31 06:41:24 +0000 UTC
She's a good teacher. The lectures are clear, even though they get a little boring. There is a lot of "now talk amongst yourselves about this topic," so if that scares you be warned. The TA did most of the grading and feedback, if that matters. She is nice though, and will talk to you after class and in office hours. Overall pretty good teacher.INTL1101 2026-04-13 20:23:33 +0000 UTC
Almost all her classes involve heavy group work. Lots of readings due before class, so be ready to read. She encourages discussion and is extremely caring. My only small gripe is that she is slow to grade, which doesn't allow feedback for the final paper in time. Despite this, she is an amazing professor.POLS3430 2023-12-08 18:07:32 +0000 UTC
Prof. Kitagawa is a super kind and caring professor. She regularly gives space for audience questions and is not afraid to answer questions which are a slight digression from what she had planned for the day. Highly recommend her class.POLS1155 2026-06-06 17:38:23 +0000 UTC
Super nice professor, always willing to help students succeed. Very interesting, easy-to-swallow lectures.INTL1101 2026-04-13 14:52:51 +0000 UTC
One of my favorite POLS profs at NEU. The depth of her knowledge is incredible, she leads thought-provoking discussions, and every lecture is helpful. She gets so excited for questions, and as excited when people volunteer answers, class was always fun and good energy. Lots of readings, but they're skimmable and she goes over them in class.POLS3430 2023-04-07 16:06:56 +0000 UTC
The professor is nice but beware of the TAPOLS1155 2026-04-29 21:41:58 +0000 UTC
Prof Kitagawa is clearly very passionate about her subject, and her lectures are incredibly interesting. The class itself was pretty easy, but I feel like I gained a lot from the topics she covered, and the discussions we had in class. Definitely get assigned huge readings, but the tests are super straightforward and you barely get any hwINTL1101 2022-12-21 13:43:49 +0000 UTC
Prof. Kitagawa is an amazing lecturer, her classes are incredibly engaging, and is one of the sweetest people I've ever had the pleasure of working with at Northeastern. She'll pose thought-provoking questions to get through the sometimes mundane readings, and grades fairly while giving thorough feedback. Take any class you can with her!POLS3430 2023-02-13 15:09:17 +0000 UTC
The readings can be quite dense (hence the 4 difficulty), but if you put in effort, the exams are manageable. I found that attending the lectures was almost always necessary to actually understand what i was reading, because i couldn't always pick it up on my own. Also, a large chunk of your grade is based on group assignments. Kitagawa is great!!POLS1155 2026-04-28 21:31:07 +0000 UTC
she is an incredibly organized and thoughtful to students. clear communicated expectations on exams and assignments. thorough feedback. lectures and informativeINTL1101 2022-12-10 19:27:21 +0000 UTC
Dr. Kitagawa is brilliant She has helped me learn a lot in her Civil War class. However the lecture heaviness and unavailability of slides online (so you will go to class) made it a full note taking class. Student participation is important, and the class is only papers due throughout the semester. Semester-long case studies were interesting to do!POLS3430 2020-01-02 16:42:38 +0000 UTC
She's an amazing professor. There's definitely a lot of reading, but she covers it quite well in class. She really values your participation in class, and there's a lot of time to discuss the topics with your peers. There was also a good balance of group projects and individual assignments. I would definitely recommend taking a class with her.POLS1155 2026-04-17 19:44:11 +0000 UTC
Professor's lectures are very monotone but she's a good teacher. Assigns lots of readings and its up to you to do them but you can get by class without doing them. There are only a few assignments per semester. Professor is very caring and nice and loves when her students stop by office hours. Would 100% take her again for a good grade.INTL1101 2021-12-13 06:27:16 +0000 UTC
Very substantive lectures while also allowing lots of time for peer collaboration during class. The class structure is clear and very interesting. I rated the difficulty a 3 because the concepts can be difficult to grasp, but she explains everything very well. I highly recommend taking her classes! She is phenomenal.POLS1155 2026-04-17 18:24:32 +0000 UTC
Risa Kitagawa Amano is rated 4.79/5 on Rate My Professors from 28 ratings. 86% of RMP reviewers said they would take them again.
Risa Kitagawa Amano's classes have a difficulty rating of 2.9/5 on Rate My Professors.
Risa Kitagawa Amano has taught POLS1155, INTL1101 at Northeastern.
Risa Kitagawa Amano has received: CSSH Outstanding Teaching Award, College of Social Sciences and Humanities (2020–21).
Data updated October 2026.