SLAVC 90
Introduction to Slavic Civilization
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Introductory survey of social and cultural institutions of Slavic peoples and their historical background. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Took CEESTD 91 with Prof. Galateanu Winter '14. She's truly an incredible professor and she has some awesome information to teach you...BUT. If you're not inclined towards history in general or if readings aren't really your thing, think twice about this class. There are a lot of reviews here saying this is an easy GE—this is really only true if you're a little more north campus than south. If you find the topic interesting you'll have a great time in this class, but if not, be prepared for a very, very rough quarter.
Took CEESTD 91 with Prof. Galateanu Winter '14. She's truly an incredible professor and she has some awesome information to teach you...BUT. If you're not inclined towards history in general or if readings aren't really your thing, think twice about this class. There are a lot of reviews here saying this is an easy GE—this is really only true if you're a little more north campus than south. If you find the topic interesting you'll have a great time in this class, but if not, be prepared for a very, very rough quarter.
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Most Helpful Review
I love Professor Heim! He's such a cute 'ol Professor with his overstuffed, tattered backpack and slouched back. I wasn't really interested in Russian history, but he makes his lectures really interesting. He's a really great lecturer and tells the history of the Soviet Union like he's telling the class a story. In terms of grading, it's pretty easy--two papers, midterm and final. The papers are fairly easy and the midterm and final are just short answer questions and essays. I'd definitely recommend this class.
I love Professor Heim! He's such a cute 'ol Professor with his overstuffed, tattered backpack and slouched back. I wasn't really interested in Russian history, but he makes his lectures really interesting. He's a really great lecturer and tells the history of the Soviet Union like he's telling the class a story. In terms of grading, it's pretty easy--two papers, midterm and final. The papers are fairly easy and the midterm and final are just short answer questions and essays. I'd definitely recommend this class.
Most Helpful Review
I took her Russian90A. She is one of my favorite professors on campus. She is very thoughtful and helpful. So is the TA (Peter). The lecture is very organized and interesting. Midterm and final include MC, matching and an short essay. Overall, it's a pretty easy&fun class. Take her!
I took her Russian90A. She is one of my favorite professors on campus. She is very thoughtful and helpful. So is the TA (Peter). The lecture is very organized and interesting. Midterm and final include MC, matching and an short essay. Overall, it's a pretty easy&fun class. Take her!
Most Helpful Review
Russian 90 - a very important class for a Russian Studies major, and the worst teacher I could imagine is leading it. I agree with the review below; Myrna is an excellent TA, and she REALLY helps with the midterms and final. Professor Klenin gives weird little smiles often during her lectures and acts excited to take questions, making it seems like she's nice, but she's actually somewhat evil...when approached before or after class, or in office hours, she is EXTREMELY rude for some reason. Very misleading. She has a strange lecture style, and the best advice I have if you want to get a good grade but don't feel like reading is to take really good notes and just study those. She tends to go into a much lower voice and practically whisper when she's saying something important, but then she'll move on too quickly for you to figure out what it was. She is inconsiderate and she does start early and end late. This class is very important if you're going to take Russian history classes in the future, and honestly it makes those upper divs a million times easier just because of how much work there is. She expects you to have an excellent memory for detail: dates, the names of all the Russian princes in order and when they ruled (which can be really confusing if you don't speak Russian), and many more things...So for the tests, be prepared to memorize details! In short, the material is decent depending on your interests and background, but be prepared to at least come to lecture, and discussion is especially helpful. Also, in addition to the textbook (atlas) and reader, she'll want you to read Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground" and Tolstoy's "Hadji Murat" and "Sevastopol Stories". One important thing: she does NOT give a paper anymore...at least not as of Spring 2008..so that's nice :)
Russian 90 - a very important class for a Russian Studies major, and the worst teacher I could imagine is leading it. I agree with the review below; Myrna is an excellent TA, and she REALLY helps with the midterms and final. Professor Klenin gives weird little smiles often during her lectures and acts excited to take questions, making it seems like she's nice, but she's actually somewhat evil...when approached before or after class, or in office hours, she is EXTREMELY rude for some reason. Very misleading. She has a strange lecture style, and the best advice I have if you want to get a good grade but don't feel like reading is to take really good notes and just study those. She tends to go into a much lower voice and practically whisper when she's saying something important, but then she'll move on too quickly for you to figure out what it was. She is inconsiderate and she does start early and end late. This class is very important if you're going to take Russian history classes in the future, and honestly it makes those upper divs a million times easier just because of how much work there is. She expects you to have an excellent memory for detail: dates, the names of all the Russian princes in order and when they ruled (which can be really confusing if you don't speak Russian), and many more things...So for the tests, be prepared to memorize details! In short, the material is decent depending on your interests and background, but be prepared to at least come to lecture, and discussion is especially helpful. Also, in addition to the textbook (atlas) and reader, she'll want you to read Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground" and Tolstoy's "Hadji Murat" and "Sevastopol Stories". One important thing: she does NOT give a paper anymore...at least not as of Spring 2008..so that's nice :)
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - I want to preface this with the fact that I took this class as a GE with no prior interest in Slavic Civilizations (which I don't recommend). Koropeckyj was honestly such an interesting professor. He was witty, very knowledgeable, and passionate about his subject. However, he taught the kind of class where he wanted you to leave knowing the content, and not necessarily for you to get an A. You must go to every class. Attendance isn't mandatory, but he randomly calls on one person a day to share a modern news story about the country or region he is lecturing about that day (so be prepared). And you have to write every single thing he says down during the lecture. Not kidding. The tests are online on a lockdown browser, and some of the questions are about some little thing we talked about. I scored Bs and Cs and I believe those were about the averages of each test. There are 4 tests throughout the whole quarter (so no midterm or final test, though the unit tests will fall on those weeks). There is one assignment per week, a discussion post. There is usually a 2-3 hour movie to watch or about a 150-page novel or story to read and respond to a week. The discussion posts (at least in my quarter) were graded on whether you successfully analyzed the material in response to a prompt and if you tied it to what we were learning in class. The final includes a webinar on a Slavic civilization we did not touch on in class. You are put into groups to make this as well as a traditional dish from the region you were assigned. During finals week, it's just a potluck! (And the online test, and the webinar). Overall, he may be one of the most interesting professors I will ever learn from. If this class is in your major, it may be one of your favorite classes you'll take! But if you're just looking for a GE, I would definitely think about how much you want to take this class because while I'm grateful I took it, I don't know if it was the best choice for me. Definitely my hardest class at UCLA so far.
Winter 2024 - I want to preface this with the fact that I took this class as a GE with no prior interest in Slavic Civilizations (which I don't recommend). Koropeckyj was honestly such an interesting professor. He was witty, very knowledgeable, and passionate about his subject. However, he taught the kind of class where he wanted you to leave knowing the content, and not necessarily for you to get an A. You must go to every class. Attendance isn't mandatory, but he randomly calls on one person a day to share a modern news story about the country or region he is lecturing about that day (so be prepared). And you have to write every single thing he says down during the lecture. Not kidding. The tests are online on a lockdown browser, and some of the questions are about some little thing we talked about. I scored Bs and Cs and I believe those were about the averages of each test. There are 4 tests throughout the whole quarter (so no midterm or final test, though the unit tests will fall on those weeks). There is one assignment per week, a discussion post. There is usually a 2-3 hour movie to watch or about a 150-page novel or story to read and respond to a week. The discussion posts (at least in my quarter) were graded on whether you successfully analyzed the material in response to a prompt and if you tied it to what we were learning in class. The final includes a webinar on a Slavic civilization we did not touch on in class. You are put into groups to make this as well as a traditional dish from the region you were assigned. During finals week, it's just a potluck! (And the online test, and the webinar). Overall, he may be one of the most interesting professors I will ever learn from. If this class is in your major, it may be one of your favorite classes you'll take! But if you're just looking for a GE, I would definitely think about how much you want to take this class because while I'm grateful I took it, I don't know if it was the best choice for me. Definitely my hardest class at UCLA so far.
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