Professor
David MacFadyen
2 of 5
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - Super easy class, but honestly I was left a bit disappointed with how the class was structured. As a musicology minor and classic rock lover, I was super excited to take this class, but the way it was taught and structured was a BUMMER! Class was based around this one book about 10 rock songs you should know and every week was based around a chapter, which were around different "themes" in rock. Lectures were basically the professor going on some tangent about each chapter and trying to connect it to Rock history, but I didn't really learn anything about rock history from them (one week we spent learning about songs that have to do with money?). People would barely show up to class and the professor got frustrated about that, so around midway through, he started requiring attendance and changed the grade distribution to reflect that which was super silly. He is also OBSESSED with AI, which take it as you will, but I feel like it didn't really belong; if you were to ask him for help, he would just tell you to ask ChatGPT. Pretty much the rest of your grade is based around one project which in my opinion was really easy if you know classic rock, but I would imagine a bit tedious if music isn't your area. As I mentioned, I love rock music and I'm minoring in musicology, so I was really disappointed with this class, but if you just want an easy class and not too concerned about taking away anything meaningful, then go for it.
Spring 2025 - Super easy class, but honestly I was left a bit disappointed with how the class was structured. As a musicology minor and classic rock lover, I was super excited to take this class, but the way it was taught and structured was a BUMMER! Class was based around this one book about 10 rock songs you should know and every week was based around a chapter, which were around different "themes" in rock. Lectures were basically the professor going on some tangent about each chapter and trying to connect it to Rock history, but I didn't really learn anything about rock history from them (one week we spent learning about songs that have to do with money?). People would barely show up to class and the professor got frustrated about that, so around midway through, he started requiring attendance and changed the grade distribution to reflect that which was super silly. He is also OBSESSED with AI, which take it as you will, but I feel like it didn't really belong; if you were to ask him for help, he would just tell you to ask ChatGPT. Pretty much the rest of your grade is based around one project which in my opinion was really easy if you know classic rock, but I would imagine a bit tedious if music isn't your area. As I mentioned, I love rock music and I'm minoring in musicology, so I was really disappointed with this class, but if you just want an easy class and not too concerned about taking away anything meaningful, then go for it.
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Most Helpful Review
I really appreciated the tangents! Venturing into the world of the Russian Lit. minor was not an easy task for me, but the professor made the experience much more comfortable. As far as lectures go, well you're reading a novel, so there are man ways to interpret it. I didn't always agree with him, and I didn't take notes really, but I liked his insights, and when I expressed my own in the papers, he appreciated them as well. I liked the readings. The professor was passionate about everything...this is obvious if you visited him in his office. Overall, a really nice and well-informed guy. I'm taking Tolstoy with him in the Fall.
I really appreciated the tangents! Venturing into the world of the Russian Lit. minor was not an easy task for me, but the professor made the experience much more comfortable. As far as lectures go, well you're reading a novel, so there are man ways to interpret it. I didn't always agree with him, and I didn't take notes really, but I liked his insights, and when I expressed my own in the papers, he appreciated them as well. I liked the readings. The professor was passionate about everything...this is obvious if you visited him in his office. Overall, a really nice and well-informed guy. I'm taking Tolstoy with him in the Fall.
Most Helpful Review
This class was pretty easy given that it was a W2 class. We had to write three five pg essays based on each of the author's we read: Tolstoy, PUshkin, and Turgenev. He chooses short stories so we won't get bored with the longer works of russian authors so its pretty nice. He is a very entertaining professor who loves Russian works. This class is by far one of the most fun ones. As for the reading and work...You can slack off a little in the readings so long as you catch up by the time a paper is due. They're all short stories so its not bad. Longest story was about 100 pages but I think the minimum stories were about 35pgs. As for the pace of class, You read about 1-2 of these each week. Then you discuss them in lecture. These are pretty helpful to pay attention to to guide you with your essays. He pretty much makes up the essay questions in class with you after the first set of essay questions. You get to choose one of three essay questions to write about.You are given one week to write your rough draft and about 1.5-2wks to turn in the final draft. The only downside to this class is that your grade is given by the TA's. THe professor acts as a tie breaker. So if you get a bad TA, then its a bit harder. However, the professor is really fair about it if you talk to him. The class was enjoyable and I'd definitely take another class by this professor!
This class was pretty easy given that it was a W2 class. We had to write three five pg essays based on each of the author's we read: Tolstoy, PUshkin, and Turgenev. He chooses short stories so we won't get bored with the longer works of russian authors so its pretty nice. He is a very entertaining professor who loves Russian works. This class is by far one of the most fun ones. As for the reading and work...You can slack off a little in the readings so long as you catch up by the time a paper is due. They're all short stories so its not bad. Longest story was about 100 pages but I think the minimum stories were about 35pgs. As for the pace of class, You read about 1-2 of these each week. Then you discuss them in lecture. These are pretty helpful to pay attention to to guide you with your essays. He pretty much makes up the essay questions in class with you after the first set of essay questions. You get to choose one of three essay questions to write about.You are given one week to write your rough draft and about 1.5-2wks to turn in the final draft. The only downside to this class is that your grade is given by the TA's. THe professor acts as a tie breaker. So if you get a bad TA, then its a bit harder. However, the professor is really fair about it if you talk to him. The class was enjoyable and I'd definitely take another class by this professor!
Most Helpful Review
He was a really great prof and always had interesting stuff to say about Russian Literature. His accent's really cool, and we watched a ton of movies in his Russian cinema class. Nothing in lecture was ever tested on, which was great, and he was a fair grader for the papers (of which there are only 2, 1 midterm paper and one final paper). I recommend him highly.
He was a really great prof and always had interesting stuff to say about Russian Literature. His accent's really cool, and we watched a ton of movies in his Russian cinema class. Nothing in lecture was ever tested on, which was great, and he was a fair grader for the papers (of which there are only 2, 1 midterm paper and one final paper). I recommend him highly.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2024 - Quite an easy class. Would recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the business side of the music industry. You don't really need the assigned reading to do good in the course, as the prof provides all the necessary materials to complete the two midterm/final projects. There were no tests. I enjoyed the course greatly; however, be warned that the class touches on the greatness of AI a LOT, and less so other aspects of Music and the Internet. It is also a little difficult to determine the structure of the course. Overall, I enjoyed the course, and would recommend Prof. Macfadyen a lot.
Spring 2024 - Quite an easy class. Would recommend to anyone interested in learning more about the business side of the music industry. You don't really need the assigned reading to do good in the course, as the prof provides all the necessary materials to complete the two midterm/final projects. There were no tests. I enjoyed the course greatly; however, be warned that the class touches on the greatness of AI a LOT, and less so other aspects of Music and the Internet. It is also a little difficult to determine the structure of the course. Overall, I enjoyed the course, and would recommend Prof. Macfadyen a lot.
Most Helpful Review
Russian120 - Literature and Revolution OK, I will admit up front that I dropped this class - after week six! And I've only ever dropped one class at UCLA (and that was in week two). I'm used to hard classes and sticking things through (Econ major), but I'm also used to hard classes that are reasonably hard - i.e., you put in the work, study hard, and you get results. As a person, he seems wry and interesting, full of 'British-isms' and dry humor. And he's also obviously very knowledgeable about all the Russian authors we had to read in our two books. However, when he lectures, there is NO STRUCTURE whatsoever. You wind up with so many disparate ideas jotted down in your notebook. Often, there are three or four authors (both our readings were books of short essays/stories/plays), and it was nearly impossible to gauge whether he has moved onto to a new person or whether he's returning to add a side note to an old topic. He's constantly interrupting himself to prove a tangential point, and often times he'll start providing a structured list and then distract himself by looking for a picture of a certain author on Wikipedia for the class. This is something we can do on our own! Please don't stop what you're saying to show us a picture of the author and then proceed to continue at a different place from where you left off... Overall, this class has no structure whatsoever. He only roughly adheres to the syllabus, and even then he's impossible to follow. I most definitely do not recommend this professor.
Russian120 - Literature and Revolution OK, I will admit up front that I dropped this class - after week six! And I've only ever dropped one class at UCLA (and that was in week two). I'm used to hard classes and sticking things through (Econ major), but I'm also used to hard classes that are reasonably hard - i.e., you put in the work, study hard, and you get results. As a person, he seems wry and interesting, full of 'British-isms' and dry humor. And he's also obviously very knowledgeable about all the Russian authors we had to read in our two books. However, when he lectures, there is NO STRUCTURE whatsoever. You wind up with so many disparate ideas jotted down in your notebook. Often, there are three or four authors (both our readings were books of short essays/stories/plays), and it was nearly impossible to gauge whether he has moved onto to a new person or whether he's returning to add a side note to an old topic. He's constantly interrupting himself to prove a tangential point, and often times he'll start providing a structured list and then distract himself by looking for a picture of a certain author on Wikipedia for the class. This is something we can do on our own! Please don't stop what you're saying to show us a picture of the author and then proceed to continue at a different place from where you left off... Overall, this class has no structure whatsoever. He only roughly adheres to the syllabus, and even then he's impossible to follow. I most definitely do not recommend this professor.
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2 of 5
