| Information | Review |
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Mikhail Dolbilov
HIST319P Expecting an A Anonymous 09/28/2024 |
He's super knowledgeable about everything Eastern Europe, well beyond the scope of the class, and can answer any question you have, so if you're interested in a topic he teaches, definitely take his class. The readings can be dense, but he goes over everything again in class, so even if you didn't understand something you read, you'll get it after lecture. Easy A if you actually do the readings and put in more than bare minimum effort for assignments. Flexible with due dates, won't take points off even if you're a week late. He's a great professor, and you'll find he's a really nice guy if you stay after class to talk to him sometime. He's more afraid of you than you should be of him tbh, definitely has stage fright. |
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Mikhail Dolbilov
HIST419P Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024 |
Professor Dolbilov is incredibly knowledgeable, but his lecturing style can be dry, and he may go off tangents. These targets are almost always pertinent to the topic in some form, though, at times, the lectures do not feel finished. He is incredibly polite and open to questions, anytime I have asked for sources or other topics on history he will give you his full attention. He is a very understanding professor, always, in my experience willing to give extensions and help regarding assignments. As long as you pay attention, ask questions, and just try, he will work with you and appreciate your effort. |
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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. |
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Mikhail Dolbilov
HIST429W Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2023 |
At the time of writing this he has a 2.8 rating for some reason, which I think is wildly unfair. His lectures can be dull because he gets off topic, but even when he gets off topic I find it interesting. The class is about the history of Russia and Ukraine and there is a lot of reading involved, but it was manageable. We also had a few written assignments, an essay style midterm and final exam, and a longer term paper to write. It was a good bit of writing, but he doesn't grade them very hard. I'm not a history major and I only took the class out of personal interest, and I was able to handle the workload just fine. If the class is still offered with him I definitely recommend taking it because it is a very interesting subject. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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Mikhail Dolbilov
HIST237 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/19/2022 |
It was very hard to understand him and he was quite rude when you asked questions but simultaneously got annoyed by the lack of participation. The only things I learned from the class were from the readings themselves and the lectures, which were very difficult to follow. Would not reccomend |
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Mikhail Dolbilov
HIST237 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/17/2022 |
His lectures are very difficult to understand because of the lack of organization. Would not take another class with him. He does offer helpful comments on assignments though |
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Mikhail Dolbilov
HIST237 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/07/2022 |
Easy A but he is a terrible lecturer. Very boring presentations, and this is coming from someone who is interested in Russian history. I would say that there are other easy A gen eds that are more interesting and productive. Would not recommend him |
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Mikhail Dolbilov
HIST237 Expecting a B histerp 03/27/2016 |
Dolbilov is ok. He has a noticeable accent, but it's understandable. He stutters a lot. The class itself is your basic survey course of Russian History, so you namely hit the highlight leaders and revolts. There's a lot of reading to do. He'll write a lot of comments on essays you write, but grades nicely, which is cool. Unless you're genuinely interested in Russian History, I would recommend taking something else. |
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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 |
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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. |
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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 |