Current instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
The best lecturer I've experienced. He's extremely knowledgable and passionate about his work, and he's approachable for questions/feedback about assignments. His grading policies are firm but fair - overall a fantastic professor!Rate My Professors ↗
This class is an insane amount of work, but professor McDonald goes out of his way to make himself accessible to you and will go above and beyond to help you succeed if you take the initiative. I learned and grew so much from this class. He shows genuine interest in your life and really cares about his students. One of the best profs I've had.Rate My Professors ↗
He doesn't really use the board or powerpoints in lecture. He just speaks which can sometimes be difficult to follow. Would recommend following along with the required readings from the textbook, and the additional readings he posted are helpful for the papers. Was graded on 2 papers, 1 midterm paper, an in class final and a final paper.Rate My Professors ↗
Took this class sometime. Professor McDonald is, hands down, the best lecturer on campus. Easy to approach, eager to help if you demonstrate initiative. His lecture on Rasputin remains the best I heard during my four years in Madison. Highly recommended.Rate My Professors ↗
He's an old-styled lecturer, so you'll have to listen to what he says to take notes in lectures. He is without a doubt an expert in Russian history and an amazing orator. Papers were fair as long as you read and went to lecture. For the final he gives out a very helpful study guide. If you're interested in taking Russian history, take his classes!Rate My Professors ↗
Professor McDonald is super interesting. He knows his material really well and presents it with the competency of someone who's been doing it for along time. He's extremely helpful, but don't be fool because he grades papers hard. So put a lot of time and effort into writing them.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
HISTORY 681 is a mentored independent research and thesis writing course for honors students.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
HISTORY 682 is a mentored independent research and thesis writing course for honors students, requiring concurrent enrollment in HISTORY 680.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=2 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sampleHISTORY 691 is a mentored independent research and writing course on an original topic, titled Senior Thesis.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
HISTORY 692 is a senior thesis course focused on mentored research and writing on an original topic.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
HISTORY 698 is a directed study course allowing students to conduct independent research under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
HISTORY 699 is a directed study course allowing students to conduct independent research under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sampleHISTORY 990 is a research and thesis course where students conduct independent research and write a thesis under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
HISTORY 999 is an independent work course involving directed study under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=4 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 691 | Senior Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 692 | Senior Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 698 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | HISTORY 999 | Independent Work |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
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