Professor
Vadim Shneyder
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - I think the historical grade distributions speak for themselves. This class is not only an easy A but an easy A+. Grading is based on quizzes, participation, film diaries, a midterm paper, and a final assignment. Nothing is done under a strict time constraint, making it a class that you can put on the back burner for weeks on end. Quizzes have no time limit and simply test whether you have paid the slightest bit of attention to the syllabus/prescribed films. Participation comes from posting to the course Slack page. If you are the kind of person to wait until the last minute to complete assignments, this grading category will work splendidly in your favor: the overwhelming majority made their first and last posts in the Slack page during finals week. The film diaries can be whatever you want them to be, as long as they're around 250 words long and show that you've engaged with the films from class. You can literally write down bullet points on a film as you watch it and get full credit. 5 are mandatory, and the other 5 count for 2% extra credit toward your final course grade if you elect to do them. Let me pause for a moment to draw your attention to that last sentence. You can get a total of 10% extra credit toward your final grade just by writing down bulleted notes for 5 five films. For perspective, since I did well on my midterm paper, I only needed to get somewhere in the 50's or 60's on the final to get an A in the class. All because of the extra credit. And that's pretty wild. The midterm paper tasks you with analyzing a scene from a prescribed film. Focusing on the stylistic devices the directors employ—cinematography, mise en scène, and editing—you discuss how the scene contributes to the meaning of the film in under 1000 words. This counts for 25% of your grade. If you play your cards right and get a good grade in this assignment, you can literally fail the final and get an A in the class. For the final, you can either write a 6-to 8-page research paper comparing/contrasting any element of any two films from the class or do a creative project with an accompanying explanation of your stylistic choices. This counts for 40% of your final grade. Although I paid minimal attention to this class and nearly never attended lecture or discussion, I very easily got an A+. I found this class interesting and still did my own research and viewings outside of class, but you definitely do not need to pay attention to everything covered in the class to do well. Take this class if you want the easiest (and most interesting) A you have ever achieved.
Fall 2021 - I think the historical grade distributions speak for themselves. This class is not only an easy A but an easy A+. Grading is based on quizzes, participation, film diaries, a midterm paper, and a final assignment. Nothing is done under a strict time constraint, making it a class that you can put on the back burner for weeks on end. Quizzes have no time limit and simply test whether you have paid the slightest bit of attention to the syllabus/prescribed films. Participation comes from posting to the course Slack page. If you are the kind of person to wait until the last minute to complete assignments, this grading category will work splendidly in your favor: the overwhelming majority made their first and last posts in the Slack page during finals week. The film diaries can be whatever you want them to be, as long as they're around 250 words long and show that you've engaged with the films from class. You can literally write down bullet points on a film as you watch it and get full credit. 5 are mandatory, and the other 5 count for 2% extra credit toward your final course grade if you elect to do them. Let me pause for a moment to draw your attention to that last sentence. You can get a total of 10% extra credit toward your final grade just by writing down bulleted notes for 5 five films. For perspective, since I did well on my midterm paper, I only needed to get somewhere in the 50's or 60's on the final to get an A in the class. All because of the extra credit. And that's pretty wild. The midterm paper tasks you with analyzing a scene from a prescribed film. Focusing on the stylistic devices the directors employ—cinematography, mise en scène, and editing—you discuss how the scene contributes to the meaning of the film in under 1000 words. This counts for 25% of your grade. If you play your cards right and get a good grade in this assignment, you can literally fail the final and get an A in the class. For the final, you can either write a 6-to 8-page research paper comparing/contrasting any element of any two films from the class or do a creative project with an accompanying explanation of your stylistic choices. This counts for 40% of your final grade. Although I paid minimal attention to this class and nearly never attended lecture or discussion, I very easily got an A+. I found this class interesting and still did my own research and viewings outside of class, but you definitely do not need to pay attention to everything covered in the class to do well. Take this class if you want the easiest (and most interesting) A you have ever achieved.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2022 - Russian 90B with Shneyder was such a treat and a great way to satisfy a GE! He really emphasizes that it isn't a history class, but a class meant to help understand the reality of the situation with Ukraine, so it was very interesting! He presents the history of Russia from 1900 to the present with little bias, and his activities and discussion allow you to form an opinion on the situation. DISCLAIMER: Since this class was taken during the TA strikes, from week 6 on he stopped lectures to stand in solidarity with the TA's, which greatly reduced the number of assignments and made our final essay no-harm. Here's how his course was structured normally: Regular Quizzes (10%, 6 quizzes worth 2% each, lowest dropped): Shneyder posts these quizzes almost biweekly, and even though they are open-note, they are difficult. I really recommend taking notes on everything he lectures on, because he will ask about some intricate details on these quizzes! Event Report (25%): Shneyder requires you to consume some form of Russian media, like a movie, in-person event/panel/workshop etc., book, podcast, etc. and has you make one of those Instagram style infographic posts/slideshows on it. Short Reflection Papers (15%, 3 papers, 5% each): Choose 3 course readings, films, questions or concepts and write a short reflection on it. These were all due by the end of the quarter but we were encouraged to submit beforehand to get feedback and points back. Attendance (15%): Attendance to lecture and discussion were mandatory, but you were able to miss 2 lectures and 1 discussion. Final (30%): Response to the discussion of Russia in the 20th century in the form of a scholarly essay, video, work of visual art, composition, etc.) If you choose a research paper, it would be 7-8 pages and required references. Although the course ended prematurely because of the strikes, it was super manageable, interesting and the professor is extremely kind and knowledgeable, so I recommend taking this class!
Fall 2022 - Russian 90B with Shneyder was such a treat and a great way to satisfy a GE! He really emphasizes that it isn't a history class, but a class meant to help understand the reality of the situation with Ukraine, so it was very interesting! He presents the history of Russia from 1900 to the present with little bias, and his activities and discussion allow you to form an opinion on the situation. DISCLAIMER: Since this class was taken during the TA strikes, from week 6 on he stopped lectures to stand in solidarity with the TA's, which greatly reduced the number of assignments and made our final essay no-harm. Here's how his course was structured normally: Regular Quizzes (10%, 6 quizzes worth 2% each, lowest dropped): Shneyder posts these quizzes almost biweekly, and even though they are open-note, they are difficult. I really recommend taking notes on everything he lectures on, because he will ask about some intricate details on these quizzes! Event Report (25%): Shneyder requires you to consume some form of Russian media, like a movie, in-person event/panel/workshop etc., book, podcast, etc. and has you make one of those Instagram style infographic posts/slideshows on it. Short Reflection Papers (15%, 3 papers, 5% each): Choose 3 course readings, films, questions or concepts and write a short reflection on it. These were all due by the end of the quarter but we were encouraged to submit beforehand to get feedback and points back. Attendance (15%): Attendance to lecture and discussion were mandatory, but you were able to miss 2 lectures and 1 discussion. Final (30%): Response to the discussion of Russia in the 20th century in the form of a scholarly essay, video, work of visual art, composition, etc.) If you choose a research paper, it would be 7-8 pages and required references. Although the course ended prematurely because of the strikes, it was super manageable, interesting and the professor is extremely kind and knowledgeable, so I recommend taking this class!
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - I was a little intimidated to take a 'literature' class. Actually, I enrolled in this class the morning of the first week of the quarter, and so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. The class is designed in a way that's 'discussion-driven if that makes sense. The professor and the students are talking about the chapters and the discussion flows very naturally in that way. If you couldn't make the live online lectures, you could make up that participation by posting and responding to questions and comments on Slack. Professor was also easily reachable on there. We had short quizzes every other week about the chapters that were assigned, 1 midterm, and a final. The midterm was like 10 questions and we had to pick 8 to answer in a couple of sentences. I liked that it was more synthesizing or critical thinking type of q&a rather than knowing very specific details about the book. And it was graded leniently so that you didn't have to have profound meanings or interpretations of the books to get a good grade. The final was my favorite. It was completely up to us about what direction we wanted to take it. I chose to make a video, but blogs, tweets, traditional essays, art,[ really anything] was all acceptable and as long as the effort was put in, a good grade was almost guaranteed. I very much enjoyed this class and would take it again. Good luck!
Winter 2021 - I was a little intimidated to take a 'literature' class. Actually, I enrolled in this class the morning of the first week of the quarter, and so I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. The class is designed in a way that's 'discussion-driven if that makes sense. The professor and the students are talking about the chapters and the discussion flows very naturally in that way. If you couldn't make the live online lectures, you could make up that participation by posting and responding to questions and comments on Slack. Professor was also easily reachable on there. We had short quizzes every other week about the chapters that were assigned, 1 midterm, and a final. The midterm was like 10 questions and we had to pick 8 to answer in a couple of sentences. I liked that it was more synthesizing or critical thinking type of q&a rather than knowing very specific details about the book. And it was graded leniently so that you didn't have to have profound meanings or interpretations of the books to get a good grade. The final was my favorite. It was completely up to us about what direction we wanted to take it. I chose to make a video, but blogs, tweets, traditional essays, art,[ really anything] was all acceptable and as long as the effort was put in, a good grade was almost guaranteed. I very much enjoyed this class and would take it again. Good luck!
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