Historical 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.
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_96f41f4f652df9e0845ccc05",
"source": "legacy",
"source_instructor_id": null,
"identity_basis": "name_only",
"identity_status": "unresolved",
"name": "DAVID MCDONALD",
"email": null,
"first_observed_at": "2025-12-14 04:50:04.653658+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-01-22 01:00:26.555427+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 21,
"quality": 4.29,
"difficulty": 3.33,
"quality_count": 21,
"difficulty_count": 21,
"profile_id": "rmp:616661",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/616661",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:44:43.449081+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_11b609e5cd34e9a42dfe7d73": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 3,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
},
"course_8a99b73b3619d48a8b2d237a": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 3,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 3.9825296505105343,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": false,
"courses": [],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/DAVID_MCDONALD--instructor_96f41f4f652df9e0845ccc05"
}