Historical instructor

DAVID BETHEA

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.93/5 from 28 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

LITTRANS 203
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Lecture drags on, but worth it because he's passionate about the material and makes you think! Read the books and stay on top of the material and you'll have no problems.
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LITTRANS 203
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
This was easily my favorite class I've ever taken at Madison, and each year I stalk his listings to see if Bethea is teaching any other courses. I was reluctant to join this class at first, but he made it memorable even years later! He makes everything interesting and really hammers home what you'll need to know and he loves an active audience!
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LITTRANS 201
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Bethea is one of the best teacher I've ever had. He's crystal clear in lecture and literally goes over every book chapter by chapter. There is a ton of reading to keep up with and the tests are challenging. It is not an easy A by any means, but Bethea is great and I would definitely take it again.
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LIT201 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Easily the best professor I've had at Madison. The books you read are actually interesting. He really tries to engage the class and can be really funny!
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RUSLT203 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
I REALLY loved this class and am now in love with Russian Lit!! We did get behind on the reading the first few weeks & it was hard to catch up afterwards, but Prof. Bethea went through the books almost chapter by chapter and if you went to class & paid attention he pretty much told you everything you needed to know!He is a talented&inspiring prof!
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LIT203 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Do not take this class for Comm B, unless you like doing pointless busy work. Prof Bethea was alright, but his TA's are terrible and I have never taken a more unorganized class at UW. We got really behind on the readings in the beginning of the semester and had to catch up reading hundreds of pages a week later on.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with DAVID BETHEA

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 2017SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2016SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2015LITTRANS 201Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2015LITTRANS 203Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2015SLAVIC 900Seminar: Slavic Literature and Culture
Fall 2015SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2015SLAVIC 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2015SLAVIC 699Directed Study
Spring 2015SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2014LITTRANS 201Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2014LITTRANS 203Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2014SLAVIC 560Capstone Seminar in Russian Literature and Culture
Fall 2014SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2014SLAVIC 799Independent Study
Spring 2014SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2013LITTRANS 201Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2013LITTRANS 203Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2013SLAVIC 799Independent Study
Fall 2013SLAVIC 900Seminar: Slavic Literature and Culture
Fall 2013SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2013SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2012LITTRANS 201Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2012LITTRANS 203Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2012SLAVIC 321Fourth Year Russian I
Fall 2012SLAVIC 699Directed Study
Fall 2012SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2012SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2011SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2011SLAVIC 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2011SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2010LITTRANS 201Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2010LITTRANS 203Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2010SLAVIC 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2010SLAVIC 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2010SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2010SLAVIC 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2010SLAVIC 799Independent Study
Spring 2010SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2009LITTRANS 201Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2009LITTRANS 203Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2009SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2009SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2008LITTRANS 201Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2008LITTRANS 203Survey of 19th and 20th Century Russian Literature in Translation I
Fall 2008SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2008SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2007SLAVIC 755Topics in Slavic Literature
Fall 2007SLAVIC 799Independent Study
Fall 2007SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Spring 2007SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature
Fall 2006SLAVIC 991Individual Research-slavic Literature

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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