Matthew Walker

Starting out, there was an insane amount of reading and films for homework but Professor Walker was extremely accommodating and quickly decreased the volume when he found out it was too much. He's friendly, fair, cares about his students being engaged in the subject, and his excitement for the topics help make the class interesting. He's very passionate and informed but can sometimes go off on tangents or cover seemingly irrelevant information. I think this class is great if you're interested in Putin and Russian Culture but imagine it would seem disorganized and boring if you weren't. There is quite a decent amount of readings and Russian movies (with subtitles) you have to watch but I found that it remained consistent and you could get into a rhythm with completing the work. There are take home quizzes and paper assignments with essay questions. He is an easy/fair grader and while I haven't gone to office hours, I imagine he would be excited to continue discussing content outside of class.

Starting out, there was an insane amount of reading and films for homework but Professor Walker was extremely accommodating and quickly decreased the volume when he found out it was too much. He's friendly, fair, cares about his students being engaged in the subject, and his excitement for the topics help make the class interesting. …Read more

Love this course! The weekly reading and screening load is quite high, so of course it is clear that not everyone is always keeping up with it, but the lectures are very interesting and this class is definitely worth taking. Professor Walker is a very engaging lecturer. The movies are usually interesting to watch and the readings are overall pretty enjoyable.

This course was a great First year Seminar. The work-load was very light, and each class was a simple discussion with engagement from assigned readings. Professor Walker is the man! He is a very chill, funny, nice guy.