2.7
Quality3.6
Difficulty33%
Would Retake88
Reviews33%
Would Retake
88
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
10
4
20
3
20
2
23
1
15
What Students Say
“All she does is ask questions”
HIS102 - 4.0 rating“Really wants her students to learn, not memorize”
HIS324 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
92%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.20 avg changeRatings by Course
HISTORY102
5.0
(1)HIS331
5.0
(1)HST366
4.0
(1)RUSSIANHISTORY
4.0
(1)HST102
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
329
5.0
HIS425
5.0
HIS300
5.0
HIS32401
5.0
WOS329
4.0
Reviews (88)
helpful...but seems to cut some things from the course which should not be cut
I truly enjoyed her class. She was a bit of a feminist however, a very cute one! But seriously, she was fair and gave you every chance to succeed. I did not always agree with her, but she was open to it.
No Comments
Sh tends to have favorites in her class when she is grading. If you dont talk in her class, she picks on you to talk anyway-like you're in kindergarden
She has certain people in class that she likes and has a tendancy to cut people off midstream if she disagrees w/ them.
A very intellectual and VERY well spoken woman. Berkeley educated. VERY knowledgeable in Russian Affairs. She is a fairly tough grader. Takes a feminist perspective with favorites in class. Only cute if you like unshaven armpits :) (Male:got a B+)
No Comments
Don't even think about taking her! She assumes everyone entering the class already knows the material. Oh yeah...if she tells you to bring a "blue book" to class...bring it. Otherwise she will throw one at you.
close minded, you cant have an opinion other then hers, likes chicks, puts down men, not enough time for her exams, unless your a speed writer, but she also knows her****, could be great but isnt
Such a nice, sweet lady who really helps you out with everything. Gives you study guides and all the info. online. Show up to class or get notes, it helps!
She is really nice and helpful, you just need to see her during her office hours and you will get all the info. you need. Take notes in class and come to class and stay awake. All the info. for quizzes and tests are given to you during class and online. She uses blackboard, THAT IS VERY HELPFUL!
She seems like shes nice and helpful at first but shes not! Don't let her smiles full you. Shes very unfair in grading. Worst Professor!!
classes can sometimes get boring but she tells you exactly what to study for the test. If you study you should do fine. I am horrible at history and some how I ended up with an A.
This teacher obviously knows her material - but can she translate it to you without a really great chronology? She focuses on social history and does everything from the female viewpoint - she leaves out political and military history ad infinitum. Do background reading before this class.
An excellent professor, very knowledgable.
Dr. K definitely knows her stuff, she tells you exactly whats going to be on the test and makes things pretty clear. Classes were pretty boring but she's a very nice and caring professor!
She is an awesome teacher. She is very helpful and provides you with all the material you will be tested on! As long as you prepare for the tests you can easily get an A or B.
she is very boring and when u are sitting in class you know you are smarter then her.
She seems to know her stuff, but her teaching style isn't very effective. There is a lot of high school group work in class. To teach this class, she needs to use more concrete concepts and have some actual notes.
Very knowledgable, but difficult to learn from. She was commonly rude to any students that asked questions, and at the most, she would just not actually answer your question. I don't believe there was any assignment in our class that any student received an 'A' on. She grades too hard for lacking clarity.
Extremely nice lady. Will challenge your knowledge, so don't ask something stupid. I hate history - and she made it very interesting. She has somewhat a feministic view, but what professor doesn't have their own teaching style?Do the readings, and you'll get that A.
She believes a lot in group work so take if with friends if you have to take her. The lectures are very boring. She gives you all the questions on the tests and they are all short answers so I hope you like blue books. She takes attendance every class and loves history and is very enthusiastic about the subject.
Does not give actually useful notes. She write questions on the board. Likes to read books that are not relevant to the material we should focus on and then gives quizzes. Unclear about what she wants on Tests and assignments and is harsh on grading. When you ask questions she wants you to see her in office hours. Always takes attendance! Group Wor
excellent professor. excellent class. is a great professor. lots of class discussion. fair grader. always willing to help. attendence is mandatory. this was a 3 hour class and she brought in snacks for break every class. what prof does that?!?!?! def take her.
by far the worst teacher i have ever had in my entire life. this lady does not have a heart. shes not willing to help anybody and she won't let anybody make up work no matter what the circumstance. this one kid in my class, his grandma died and he had to make up the quiz he missed while going to her funeral and she refused to let him take the test
SUPER DIFFICULT CLASS. she's okay for lower lever classes, but she's death for russian history. impossible amount of reading. doesn't actually teach anything. concepts confusing. impossible to get an A if you don't have lots of prior knowledge about russian history
Very Nice Lady. Alot of reading involved. Lots of Group work and projects. More class discussion than actual lecture or note giving. overall if you pay attention to the class discussion and read some of the book its an easy A. She was alot of fun.
No good. There is a lot of reading, classes are boring. Tests are hard, but she gives alot of little points for little assignments. I'm a history major, and i hated the class so i dont advise taking her, but it is do-able if you put in the work and read everyhting.
Eh...the class could be better could be worse. My best advice GO TO CLASS and take some notes. Even though attendence is not mandatory she goes over EVERYTHING that will show up on the mid term and final. A lot of little assignments to give you points-if you do them. It's a little work, but not impossible.
Hated the class. Lots of work involved. Super boring. Lots of reading, and many little pointless assignments. Tests are hard. Lots of participating and public speaking involved. I don't recommend her at all. It was that one class I dreaded going to compared to all the others.
Oh my lord. such a hard class. You need to go to class and you need to use your book. Every detail she talks about is on the midterm and the final. All of the roundtables have to be exactly what she wants or she won't give you full credit. She is rarely in her office and when she is she usually doesn't want to talk to you.
Not helpful. Do not take this professor.
most boring class ever. i tried so hard to understand but she is very dry and unclear. if you are like me and learn by copying what she has down on the board, God help you cause her notes on the board are basically just an outline. not helpful. roundtables almost every other class. tests are long and hard.
I liked Dr. K overall. The first paper I did i got a 7 out of 10, I didnt understand so I went to talk to her about it. Basically what she wants everyone to do is think like "historians" and think "outside of the box". She doesn't want a defintion or definite answer she wants you to think. Ever since then I have recieved 9 and 10. BE THE HiST0RiAN!
This woman was unbelieveably bad. She was useless. She never helped with anything. She seems like the nicest lady, but really she could not care at all about her students.Basically do everything her way to get an A. Anything that is slightly different will not be full credit. DO NOT TAKE HER!
Hist. Of Imperial Russia is her expertise and because of this, you hold little chance of having a point of view that is different from hers and still earn a decent grade. Test are hard. STUDY! study guides are immense but helpful. MidTerm was 10 and . Final was 15 Short essays plus 1 "Long" essay. You had to Cite your sources, too. It was rough.
At first, I liked this class. It seemed like an interesting take on a history class. One upside is that she does not require you to remember dates. BUT as the class went on, I watched as she made other students in the class feel stupid for disagreeing with her. She definitely thinks her way is best and can be a bit cranky. GO TO THE ROUNDTABLES.
She is arrogant and doesn't care about her students. Can you say revenge of the nerds?!?!?!?!?! But if you want to do well in her classes, be at EVERY roundtable, any time she writes something on the board you should too, and study that way. If she brings it up...it's gonna be on a test! She knows WAY too much about russia, so good luck!
Professor makes it clear that the only opinion welcome is her own. Her bias is obvious in the texts she chooses for class discussion and her topic choices are both dry and uninformative. This class is a failure of higher education. I would recommend not taking this professor if you have the choice. Overall thumbs down.
Prof Krishchenbaum really knows her stuff. Although I failed, it was due to me being late to one too many classes. The main problem is she is too hardcore about lateness. God forbid I show up to class 5-10mins late....That should be on me, not my grade...There are a lot of assignments and readings. Do those and you're set. But she's not lenient...
Very tough grader. If you put in the effort and show up for class, you'll be just fine. DO NOT put your things away until she dismisses you! She is fair, but tough. Participate in class...your grade will reflect that. Don't take if you are lazy and/or skip class.
I have only had this course for half the semester. I don't try very hard but i do go to all of classes and I got a B on the midterm. There are Response Papers due at the end of each week which are pretty simple. Overall the class isn't that bad. I think I do well though because she liked me you can sometimes tell if she doesn't like a student.
Doesn't take attendance, but go to the roundtables for points even if you didn't do the paper. Can get by without fully reading the text, but read the books. Be on time, expect to stay a minute late. Print what she posts on D2L and bring it. Weekly papers are only a page long; double spaced. Midterm and a final.
The other reviews are pretty spot on. Hard but fair. Don't be late, especially on round-table days. History is reading and writing - If you are a history major, act like one and you should be fine.
I took this class because of the title -- I've always loved imperial Russia and thought it would be easy since I already know a lot. NOT the case. Every week there is a LOT of reading to do, along with a roundtable (she almost never gives full credit on response papers). However, if you participate, show up to class and do the work, it's an easy A.
All she does is ask questions. Questions and more questions. It would be easier to learn to the material was taught first instead of having students read 2 books and all the text and then powerpoints with questions. Teaching happens before testing. This is a gen ed class. Not everyone is a historian.
I took His329 and unfornuately i have to agree, the class was rather boring and she assigned reading 30-50 pages a night, and expressing an opinion that is your own? FORGET ABOUT IT. she makes people feel dumb and she tends to be very sassy for no appartent reason. If u want to take the class work hard this isn't an easy A!
Not my favorite professor. If you make eye contact with her she'll call on you and ask "what do you think?". She also ALWAYS asks "why?" "why do you think that?" You also have to submit a 500 word essay on D2L basically every week which isn't bad but she almost never gives 1010. I was shocked when I got a 910 once. Midterm and final are easy.
If you do the reading, write the papers and participate in class you will be fine. Nothing is that difficult at all. Its a bit of work but nothing crazy. Compared to other history classes I have had, she is the most clear.
I hated this class with all my guts. The last day of class i was overwhelmed with joy! This class is extremely boring and if your not prepared to read then you mind as well not take this class. She makes you ready 30-60 pages for each class homework assignment and a 500 word paper is due every week on them. She is a very tough grader
Pretty much what everyone said is true. Too hard for a gen ed class, too reliant on the textbook. I kind of wish there were more tests actually, but the ones that there are take too long to finish. Would not reccommend as a professor.
She knows pretty much everything about Russian history, which was what the class was about. Instead of lecturing, though, she asks the class super specific questions regarding the readings, which got very annoying. She is a tough grader on all assignments. Her tests require you to know a lot about everything discussed throughout the semester.
Literally come into class and haven't learned a thing about Imperial Russia so far. Go to class, sit down and learn about how to write a paper on what others say about Russia, not inspired to come to this class or even remotely want to even engage when I am there. The class would be very interesting if she spoke more about Russia instead of a book.
Dr. K means well. She's VERY knowledgeable of topics covered and promotes critical thinking. She assigns a large amount of reading which will be discussed in class; you are expected to participate. She is very grounded in her far-left political views. Feels like she's trying to recruit democratic voters which isolates more neutral thinkers.
She's so nice but I couldn't stand the class because of how much we had to read every single day and how many papers we had to write. The subject is boring and there's just too much work for a 100 class
Dr. K really teaches you important skills for analyzing history. As a history major, I found her class very beneficial. Some people complain about all the reading, but I enjoyed it. Plus she understands you won't read for every class, but try to make an effort for most of the time. She always smiling. I'll miss her next semester.
Very nice, just confusing about the requirements for papers. Often her papers asked multiple questions that were very broad. Most of the class time was spent answering historical perspective questions. Not much hands on learning about the topic.
Dr. K is a fine prof. If you do a decent amount of the reading and put a good amount of effort into the writing assignments you'll do just fine. SHOW UP TO CLASS! And don't be late. She laughs at awkward times,like when talking about the Holocaust and horrors of industrial revolution. She gives exam essay questions out ahead of time, so write them!
I do not recommend her. She NEVER lectures and her class is very heavy in discussions. There is so much reading it's ridiculous. If you like to talk a lot during class and share your opinion I would definitely take her. Overall, pretty boring and she words everything in complicated ways to understand. I do not recommend.
Professor Kirschenbaum's classes are less focused on lecturing and more on discussion. This means you cannot tune out during her classes, and you will need to have both read the homework material (there is a fair amount of it, so don't sleep on it either) and have a decent understanding of it. If you do this much, you will find her class easy.
Dr. K is a great woman with a lot of knowledge to offer. Discussion-run classes - they can be boring if you're not a history buff (I'm not). Her papers are a little difficult, lots of questions & required sources but she makes access to these sources easy. There were only a few graded assignments for the class (one C can drag you down).
This was really a great class. She really likes discussions and I don't like having to participate, but I still enjoyed it. She is a wonderful history professor. I always hated history before and it was always my weakest subject, but now I find it interesting and I would love to take another class with her.
All thought the class can be boring, Dr. Kirschenbaum really does try her best to get everyone to understand the material. Its an easy A as long as you read all the readings and put effort into your papers for the class. Shes very clear on what she wants for the papers so if you follow directions, you'll be fine!
She is a very tough grader and the entire class is essay based. IF you don't read the books you will fail the papers.
She's brilliant. Really wants her students to learn, not memorize. Cares about the depth pf the education of her students. Yeah, her classes arent easy, but if you try in her class you'll pass and if you reach out for help if youre struggling she'll help you.
Dr. Kirschenbaum is really nice but her class is extremely boring. She assigns readings every class and makes you keep a journal. She's extremely helpful but the class just isn't very interesting. However, her midterm and final are papers and very easy.
Overall pretty easy, interesting class. Wouldnt take it again but wasnt that bad.
Too much work for a 100 level course. Not a fan of the material or set up of the class, either. Personality clash, too. Very nice but not my kind of professor or class style.
I really am not a fan of this class and our personality's don't mix at all. For a 100 level class, there is too much unnecessary work and too high of expectations. Also, very tough grading. A ton of reading for this class. I just found it very annoying and painful to be in.
DO NOT TAKE AS A GEN ED! There was not one lecture. Every class we sat in groups and talk about the unnecessarily long readings we had for the night before. As the midterm began to creep up, not one student knew what we could possibly be graded on. This class is ridiculous for a general education requirement. I highly suggest finding another prof.
Dr. Kirschenbaum has a heavily reading and discussion based teaching style which, if you really enjoy history and do the readings, is a much more rewarding way of engaging with the material than just a lecture. If you're only in for a gen-ed credit, it may not be your cup of tea. She is very knowledgeable and clearly cares about what she teaches.
I DO NOT recommend this class. I am decent at history and an A student. She completely and utterly screwed me on my grades. I read every book, attended class, and did every paper. She didnt give me an A on ANYTHING. I killed my final. I mean I knew Absolutly everything from start to finish and she gave me a 78, just enough to pass her class.
I've never experienced such baloney in my life until I walked into Professor Kirschenbaum's classroom. When I say two papers every week that are only one point each I'm serious, she grades like each paper is a bar exam at Harvard Law. Lastly, she will absolutely butcher you the whole year about wearing a mask and getting the flu shot and vaccine.
My biggest issue with Professor Kirschenbaum is her grading system. The class has a few essays and she can be a very difficult grader but what I liked the least is that she doesn't give you much feedback on your essays so you'll have to approach her yourself to see what is wrong. Otherwise, I really enjoyed her class and would take her again.
Such a bad and inconsistent grader. Gives you an essay prompt and it has 5 questions you have to answer and then she takes off points for being too "vague" and not including every possible perspective from the time period. You'll be writing about someones perspective then she'll take off points because you did not also write about someone else's.
These reviews shocked me honestly. I think she grades very easily and is friendly. While there were assignments that could be due every Tuesday and Thursday and a total of 5 papers for the whole semester and when I say papers I mean only 300-500 words so it was super easy. would reccomend
Just help yourself out and take a different course or teacher especially if its just for a gen ed. I don't believe it's possible to get an A in the class. Attendance is mandatory you're probably not going to pass if you skip.
I liked Professor Kirschenbaum but being a non-history major made it hard for me to understand the things she was teaching. She would have us write journal entries from the material, but she would make us write them from the historian's POV. She also had us read two books, both to finish at record pace. Take her if you're a historian, I guess.
very difficult class so make sure you pay attention and no skip class or you will fail
Dr K is amazing! She is so friendly and extremely knowledgeable about the material. She grades quickly and is pretty lenient with due dates. Classes are very discussion-based so you better do the reading. It's a lot, but you will learn so much!! However, if you don't want to put much effort into history classes - take another prof.
Worst professor ever. This class is a joke. It is almost impossible to get an A unless you are a history know it all. Avoid her at all costs. She also makes you feel very uncomfortable. Too many presentations for a history class as well.
Dr. K teaches about very interesting topics and she knows so much about them. She finds interesting sources for readings. I think her classes rely too much on discussion though.
Do not take this class. I promise you will regret it.
Her rudeness and snaps create a hostile environment for students. Her grading is also notoriously harsh and inconsistent. Feedback is often vague and unhelpful, making it difficult to improve. Expect to be frustrated with your grades and the outcome of presentations, no matter how good you do you will rarely get a decent grade.
I would rather walk on broken glass than take this teacher again.
Horrible class DO NOT TAKE IT. Also she weirdly talks about the intimacy a lot in the books we read, makes me think I'm in health class rather than HIS
Great Prof. In depth lectures and makes it really easy to engage in class. All that is needed to do well in her class is to do the reading and follow her instructions on assignments, which she lays out very clearly and will clarify if asked. She said this was her last semester teaching, I wish her a happy retirement.
She is so rude to students and can never admit when she made a mistake. Every time she yells at a student, she does it with a condescending smile. Her grading doesn't make sense. I could turn in the worst paper and get an A one day, but the next day, I could turn in a great paper only to receive an F. She is not made to be a teacher.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
92%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.20 avg changeRatings by Course
HISTORY102
5.0
(1)HIS331
5.0
(1)HST366
4.0
(1)RUSSIANHISTORY
4.0
(1)HST102
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
329
5.0
HIS425
5.0
HIS300
5.0
HIS32401
5.0
WOS329
4.0