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Mikhail Dolbilov HIST419P Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/18/2023	If you don't know how to deal with a boring lecturer then you are going to hate this. Otherwise, if you have a genuine interest in the subject the readings will be interesting. As others have stated on here, he gets extremely off-topic very quickly which makes it frustrating at times that he will not move on from a subject. That being said, he is extremely polite and very accommodating. I have an interest in history and I asked him several questions of interest after one class and he literally spent over an hour talking to me, about our shared interests. Strangely enough, he is extremely focused and on-topic in one-on-one conversations. Also his stutter disappears outside of lecture, I think he has stage fright, no joke. I acknowledge not everyone has an interest and history and the lectures can be disheartening, but if you walk away from his class saying "Man he's rude" or the assignments are too difficult, I think that's a mark of the type of student. Also, he speaks Albanian in addition to Russian and English which is cool.
Mikhail Dolbilov HIST419P Expecting an A Anonymous 02/07/2023	Easy class and can be interesting when the professor stays on task, he does tend to ramble but as long as you have at least some of the material you can keep up with what's going on. Pretty lax grading, cite a quote or two to show you actually read. Even though the final paper was a bit annoying, it was enjoyable to learn about other events and tie them back to class. If you looking for an easy class and don't mind writing, take this class, if you hate writing and do not have much patience then I recommend to avoid. I am taking him again this semester, he is a nice professor, just not for everyone.
Mikhail Dolbilov HIST419P Expecting an A Anonymous 02/07/2023	Easy class and can be interesting when the professor stays on task, he does tend to ramble but as long as you have at least some of the material you can keep up with what's going on. Pretty lax grading, cite a quote or two to show you actually read. Even though the final paper was a bit annoying, it was enjoyable to learn about other events and tie them back to class. If you looking for an easy class and don't mind writing, take this class, if you hate writing and do not have much patience then I recommend to avoid. I am taking him again this semester, he is a nice professor, just not for everyone.
Mikhail Dolbilov HIST419P Expecting an A Anonymous 01/16/2023	Hard to rate the professor and the class overall. Class wise it was very easy- a midterm and a final that you can do whenever online, but are reading heavy and analysis focused. They do take a few hours to do because of the essays. We did have one paper to do, and that was annoying. The class itself was extremely boring. The guy definitely knows a lot, but the lecture is very dry. Out of our 19 people, only 7-10 would show up, and everyone would do just whatever. The professor would always rant about the war in Ukraine even though it had nothing to do with the class material (18th-mid 20th century in Russia/USSR). Dolbilov is very flexible and very chill overall, so it's not that bad. Only recommend it if you are a history major, or know a lot/are legitimately interested in Russia.
Mikhail Dolbilov HIST419P Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/14/2012	i dont know what the other reviews are talking about but this might be one of the worst professors in umd. he doesn't seem to care much about the topic or just simply can't explain it in a understandable way. he stands in front of a powerpoint, which consists of a picture, and talks. lectures are useless and some people fall asleep. it is true, however, that he grades relatively easy. but this was one of the worst classes i've ever taken
Mikhail Dolbilov HIST419P Expecting an A Anonymous 05/16/2012	He makes class pretty interesting, but if you don't do the readings, you'll have no idea what's going on in class. He does seem to be making a conscious effort to remind himself that we're American students with no prior Russian history knowledge, but did a good job of explaining things. That being said, he's a reasonably easy grader, especially on the term paper.
Mikhail Dolbilov HIST419P Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2012	This class was a complete mystery the whole time. So I knew NOTHING about Russian history, and the way he teaches the class is like you know the stuff already (which gets me cause there were not prerequisites). Anyways, I spent most of the class lost, but by reading up on the stuff he said a little i was able to get a B??? How: He is a VERY easy grader! LOVE HIM!!! lol Soo my recommendation is if you need a class like this take it with him because you will more than likely be satisfied with your grade...maybe not the class...but DEFINITELY your grade. lol