Valentina Izmirlieva

Professor Izmirlieva is a phenomenal lecturer-- her class sessions are vibrant, informative, and relevant, and the assigned readings are well-selected and fascinating. One would expect a historical survey course to be somewhat dense and dry, but Magical Mystery Tour was anything but-- supplementing lectures with discussion sessions, films, and "field trips", Professor Izmirlieva worked hard to ensure that students weren't bored. That being said, last semester for various reasons she canceled a total of 6 classes and made no effort to make up for this lost time. Please know that if you take Professor Izmirlieva's course you may not get your money's worth.

Not to be mean--because yes, she's "nice"--but this class bored me so much that instead of listening to the lecture/discussion about the books we read, I brought my own books and read some more, and I jumped at the opportunity to switch into another section when the first semester was over. The class is mostly lecture, in which she went over the events of the book and elaborated a bit on themes, etc. None of the things she brought up were new or interesting or entertaining to me, and, though this next part perhaps isn't as much her fault, even when the class had open discussions they were stunted, not engaging, and not many people participated. Another thing that really bothered me is that this is a *reading and writing class* and yet she wouldn't look over drafts of the assigned papers, no matter how early you finished the draft, because, and I quote, "it wouldn't be fair to the rest of the class who didn't hand in drafts and receive constructive criticism." Huh?? The rest of class could just as well finish their drafts early too if they wanted to! What kind of English teacher won't look at your writing? She also let her personal life interfere with her teaching (I'm tired from moving, I'm distracted from my kid, etc) and mentioned a number of times how she "has a life" and isn't always online to answer emails like us hip young kids and to not expect to always be able to reac…

Take this class in order to spend a semester slowly sipping one of the twentieth century's greatest literary works. Prof. Izmirlieva is a challenging and vigorous discussion leader who brings a wealth of insight into Lolita to the class. At times she seemed dissapointed by class participation, but she was up for tenure review and understandably more nervous than usual. At the end of the day she is a very smart, very lucid professor who has a passion for Nabakov.

An understanding of traditional Russian Orthodoxy, a grasp of the schism that caused the Old Believers to separate, and continuing invocations of the ROC by Putin and other Russian leaders. Moreover, I learned a lot about Russian history in general, especially from the 19th to the 20th centuries.

Light-- brief weekly online responses, 2 very brief papers, and a midterm and final.

As a practical note, I wouldn't change section if I get her again unless I am sure I would get a better instructor. There are a lot of awful professors teaching lit hum; at least she doesn't rebuke any other field than literature or does crazy things many other section instructors reportedly do. And the workload is rather light (3 short papers, submission of short question every night before class) but midterm ID was not so easy. I am not as so sure about favorites as other reviewers, but I couldn't say she doesn't have one. The main issue I had with the course is how the class is taught. It is mostly discussion and she hardly writes down anything, and I am doubtful whether it's very effective. She does give questions and leads the topic to what she wants to teach, and she is very knowledgeable, but the teaching itself if rather disorganized, because there is a continued discussion (and quite a few parts of it going nowhere) and she says things she wants to say between them, so sometimes it's hard to get a big picture about the book. But most of the time, you can get something out of the discussion. The bottom line is that she is a nice person, and you can learn quite a bit in the course if you try. And you won't get absolutely horrible grades even if you are not very good or don't have much time. Not bad.

One of the nicest professors at Columbia. Prof. Izmirlieva definately knows what she is talking about, she brings up very interesting details. A very relaxing class, especially if you have a lot of other things going on the same semester. Focus on the midterm and final assignments, they are the only grades you will get throughout the semster.

This was a phenomenal class that gave me a different perspective on Russia as a whole, one that went beyond descriptions and narratives. The content covered presented Russia from a whole different angle than the typical one employed by mainstream academics like Richard Pipes or Anne Applebaum. The knowledge I gained in this course I will undoubtedly utilize as I continue to study Russia.

She could be worse, but she is not exactly the most approachable professor. She DEFINITELY has her favorites, and if you aren't one of them expect her to look at you like you're a toddler if you ever dare contribute to class discussion. If she doesn't agree with whatever you say, she will give you her awkward stare and try to move on by bringing in whatever her genius right answer was. Class discussions aren't earth-shattering, and you will probably find yourself bored to death after twenty minutes. This isn't the most enlightening lit hum section, and if it isn't what you're looking for, switch.

This is one of the most engaging, brilliant and excited profs i have come across at columbia. She is genuinely passionate about the material and her students. She is very fair and attentive, caring and kind. If you are lucky enough to have a class with her, thank your lucky stars.