[RUSS 0101]
Beginning Russian I

Rate This Class

Professor: Katz M

Value of Course / Overall Score

Not Much (70%
Average (20%)
Valuable (10%)

Material

Friendly (80%)
Average (10%)
Competitive (10%)

Class Atmosphere

Boring (10%)
Average (30%)
Fascinating (60%)

Prep Time Needed

1-2hr (0%)
3-5hr (10%)
6-8hr (20%)
9-11hr (0%)
12+ hr (70%)

Grade Weighting

Harder (80%)
Average (0%)
Easier (20%)

Adequate Assistance

Yes (20%)
No (80%)

Would Recommend Class

Yes (10%)
No (90%)

Evaluation Comments for Katz M

  1. Professor Katz co-taught 101 with Sergei Davydov. This semester Professor Katz was unpleasant, unhelpful, and very boring. He improved later on in the year but a number of people grew to hate him in 101.
  2. Worst educational experience of my life
  3. Course destroyed my passion for languages
  4. terrible prof
  5. My theory is that Katz is insecure about his own ability to speak Russian and therefore acts condescending to the students. He should really stick to teaching literature in translation classes. Seriously, his performance in this class was a disgrace to Middlebury's language programs.
  6. If you take this class, be ready to go it alone. Katz's constant to reply to a request for office hours is "go see the tutor" who can't help you sometimes. He takes off too much for bad spelling and bad handwriting and doesnt seem to care that you actually know what the word means. In short, he's a hardass that wont help you. I would take an upper level course with him. But keep him the hell away from beginners for their own sakes.
  7. This class is really difficult
  8. I doubt that Katz will be teaching first year Russian again any time soon. He does not have the patience or understanding for it--at least, that's the impression that most of the class recieved. He tends to put people on the spot and makes you feel stupid for not knowing a concept that you've only just begun to wrap your head around. And many of us didn't get his sense of humor (it was difficult to tell if he was serious or joking). It's not that he's a terrible guy, he simply should be teaching upper level students. Take beginning Russian with Moss, Sergei or Beyer.
  9. Prof. Katz is a terrible professor and taking his Russian class was a waste of my time and his. The grade I got in his course brought down my entire GPA so much and the time I spent trying to do well in the course took away from classes that were worthwhile, which brought down those grades as well. I wasted a semester taking Russian and had to work so hard to make up that semester in Italian.

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