Historical instructor

ALEX LAZARIAN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.81/5 from 52 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

ASTRON 104
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Alexandre means well. He is truly passionate about the subject & course and wants his students to succeed. However, his lectures are pointless at times and I learned most of the material from the textbook. Read the textbook and study HW & textbook questions for the exam!
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ASTRON 104
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
He is a great professor who truly cares about his students. He sprinkles some good life advice into his lectures. Many students seem to struggle with astro 104, but if you have taken a physics class and go to most lectures this class will be an easy A in my opinion.
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ASTRON 104
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
The course is graded on 3 exams which often include questions from the homework, but there are some surprises on the exams. He does one "practice exam" at the beginning of the semester which isn't worth anything. His lectures were quite boring and it was often difficult to understand him. He did boost exam scores randomly, but don't count on that.
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ASTRON 104
Quality 2/5Difficulty 1/5
Alex Lazarian is a lot of things - a professor, an astronomer, highly intelligent, occasionally funny - but he is not a good lecturer. I do not believe I learned a single thing during lecture; I learned almost all of the course materials out of the textbook. I would not recommend unless you are willing and able to do most of the learning yourself
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ASTRON 104
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor Lazarian likes to hear himself talk more than teach, his exams are 90% of the grade with homework being worth only 10%. I once asked him & TA's for help and he said that asking for help is taking advantage of TA's. There are 2 lectures posted every week. They're almost an hour each. This class is not fun or worth it.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with ALEX LAZARIAN

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026ASTRON 920Seminar-astrophysical Topics
Spring 2025ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2024ASTRON 920Seminar-astrophysical Topics
Fall 2024ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2024ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Spring 2024ASTRON 199Directed Study
Spring 2024ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2024PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2023ASTRON 199Directed Study
Fall 2023ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2023PHYSICS 799Independent Study
Fall 2023PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2023ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Spring 2023ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2023PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2022ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Fall 2022ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2022PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2022ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Spring 2022ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2021ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Fall 2021ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2021PHYSICS 990Research
Fall 2020ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Fall 2020ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2020PHYSICS 990Research
Spring 2020ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2019ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2019ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Spring 2019ASTRON 699Directed Study
Spring 2019ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2018ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Fall 2018ASTRON 699Directed Study
Fall 2018ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2018ASTRON 699Directed Study
Spring 2018ASTRON 702Basic Astrophysics II
Spring 2018ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2017ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Fall 2017ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2017ASTRON/PHYSICS 910Seminar in Astrophysics
Spring 2017ASTRON 702Basic Astrophysics II
Spring 2017ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2016ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Fall 2016ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2016ASTRON 920Seminar-astrophysical Topics
Spring 2016ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2015ASTRON 104Our Exploration of the Solar System
Fall 2015ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2015ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2014ASTRON 103The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Fall 2014ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2014ASTRON 150Topics in Astronomy
Spring 2014ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2013ASTRON 720The Interstellar Medium I: Basic Processes
Fall 2013ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2013ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2012ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2012ASTRON 103The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Spring 2012ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2011ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2011ASTRON 702Basic Astrophysics II
Spring 2011ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2010ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2010ASTRON 702Basic Astrophysics II
Spring 2010ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2009ASTRON 103The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Fall 2009ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2009ASTRON 702Basic Astrophysics II
Spring 2009ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2008ASTRON 103The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Fall 2008ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2008ASTRON 702Basic Astrophysics II
Spring 2008ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2007ASTRON 103The Evolving Universe: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology
Fall 2007ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2007ASTRON 920Seminar-astrophysical Topics
Spring 2007ASTRON 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2006ASTRON 700Basic Astrophysics I
Fall 2006ASTRON 990Research and Thesis

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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