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.Rate My Professors ↗
Historical instructor
DAVID BETHEA
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
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!Rate My Professors ↗
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.Rate My Professors ↗
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!Rate My Professors ↗
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!Rate My Professors ↗
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.Rate My Professors ↗
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.
No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
Recorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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