Professor
Emily Klenin
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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
She was not forthcoming to me personally and whenever I would come up to her she would already assume that I was a cheater trying to take advantage of her. It was not a very good class at all and I do no suggest taking it at all. It was easy, but her choice of TA was disappointing and it was just a disappointing experience.
She was not forthcoming to me personally and whenever I would come up to her she would already assume that I was a cheater trying to take advantage of her. It was not a very good class at all and I do no suggest taking it at all. It was easy, but her choice of TA was disappointing and it was just a disappointing experience.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - I began to appreciate storytelling for what it is: an experience. I also learned more about historical Caucasia and its culture, which is super cool! the workload was extremely fair and doable, with a few discussion posts each week and sometimes a short CCLE quiz (with unlimited attempts). I thought that Professor Klenin was very compassionate and open to discussion, even though the class was on Zoom and it was difficult to get us to participate. we had breakout rooms and discussions, but the quizzes and discussion posts were the only part of your grade (which was perfect, because they allowed for flexibility and open endedness). I would take this course again! - but don't buy the course materials, I was able to check them out at the library :)
Fall 2021 - I began to appreciate storytelling for what it is: an experience. I also learned more about historical Caucasia and its culture, which is super cool! the workload was extremely fair and doable, with a few discussion posts each week and sometimes a short CCLE quiz (with unlimited attempts). I thought that Professor Klenin was very compassionate and open to discussion, even though the class was on Zoom and it was difficult to get us to participate. we had breakout rooms and discussions, but the quizzes and discussion posts were the only part of your grade (which was perfect, because they allowed for flexibility and open endedness). I would take this course again! - but don't buy the course materials, I was able to check them out at the library :)
Most Helpful Review
Good Professor (HNRS 166 was not listed) RE: HNRS 166, not H189 (final course grade: A) The name of this class should definitely be changed and dubbed as “Russian Literature” because that’s essentially what the books, essays and class topics revolved around. At the outset of the quarter, we received A LOT of tedious work as with had to outline so many parts of novels and each character, etcetera but towards the end of the class, she slowed down the heavy workload a little. But either way, every week we had an essay to submit along with reading hundreds of pages. I enjoyed the class, but my only STRONG recommendation is please allow the students to engage in discussions; Professor Klenin is very nice but she generally hijacks every discourse so we rarely spoke up after about the third week. Overall, an interesting class if you want to dive in the world of Russian literature taught by an expert in the field.
Good Professor (HNRS 166 was not listed) RE: HNRS 166, not H189 (final course grade: A) The name of this class should definitely be changed and dubbed as “Russian Literature” because that’s essentially what the books, essays and class topics revolved around. At the outset of the quarter, we received A LOT of tedious work as with had to outline so many parts of novels and each character, etcetera but towards the end of the class, she slowed down the heavy workload a little. But either way, every week we had an essay to submit along with reading hundreds of pages. I enjoyed the class, but my only STRONG recommendation is please allow the students to engage in discussions; Professor Klenin is very nice but she generally hijacks every discourse so we rarely spoke up after about the third week. Overall, an interesting class if you want to dive in the world of Russian literature taught by an expert in the field.
Most Helpful Review
Good Professor (HNRS 166 was not listed) RE: HNRS 166, not H189 (final course grade: A) The name of this class should definitely be changed and dubbed as “Russian Literature” because that’s essentially what the books, essays and class topics revolved around. At the outset of the quarter, we received A LOT of tedious work as with had to outline so many parts of novels and each character, etcetera but towards the end of the class, she slowed down the heavy workload a little. But either way, every week we had an essay to submit along with reading hundreds of pages. I enjoyed the class, but my only STRONG recommendation is please allow the students to engage in discussions; Professor Klenin is very nice but she generally hijacks every discourse so we rarely spoke up after about the third week. Overall, an interesting class if you want to dive in the world of Russian literature taught by an expert in the field.
Good Professor (HNRS 166 was not listed) RE: HNRS 166, not H189 (final course grade: A) The name of this class should definitely be changed and dubbed as “Russian Literature” because that’s essentially what the books, essays and class topics revolved around. At the outset of the quarter, we received A LOT of tedious work as with had to outline so many parts of novels and each character, etcetera but towards the end of the class, she slowed down the heavy workload a little. But either way, every week we had an essay to submit along with reading hundreds of pages. I enjoyed the class, but my only STRONG recommendation is please allow the students to engage in discussions; Professor Klenin is very nice but she generally hijacks every discourse so we rarely spoke up after about the third week. Overall, an interesting class if you want to dive in the world of Russian literature taught by an expert in the field.
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