Historical instructor

DAVID SORKIN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.75/5 from 8 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

HIST529 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
He's honestly one of the best professors I've encountered at this school. He cares deeply for his students and is willing to work with you to help you to get an A. Workload is a bit on the heavy side, but papers are about an esoteric knowledge of what the writer is saying, and not little nitpicky details.
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HIST529 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
He's honestly one of the best professors I've encountered at this school. He cares deeply for his students and is willing to work with you to help you to get an A. Workload is a bit on the heavy side, but papers are about an esoteric knowledge of what the writer is saying, and not little nitpicky details.
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HIST529 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Essay-based class. Fair grader, will let you rewrite and his class prepares you well for the essays
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HIST220 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Interesting class. Sorkin wants you to do well and will help you get an A. Go to class and take notes and the papers are a breeze.
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HIST220 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
For this subject there could be no better professor. I learned so much in this class, and if you're interested in this subject I highly reccomend Sorkin. I'm not sure but it might not be as great a class for someone not that interested in history. A lot of writing but allows rewrites. One of the best professors I've ever had.
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HIST220 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Very knowledgable on the material, wanted to make lecture fun and interesting. An all around nice man. The class has a lot of reading, a lot of which is necessary to use as support in the papers but if you're interested in the subject matter it's not bad. It was my favorite class of the semester.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with DAVID SORKIN

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 2012HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2011HISTORY 600Advanced Seminar in History
Spring 2011HISTORY 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2011HISTORY 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2011HISTORY 999Independent Work
Fall 2010HISTORY 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2010HISTORY 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2010HISTORY 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2010HISTORY 891Proseminar in Modern European History
Fall 2010HISTORY 999Independent Work
Spring 2010HISTORY 600Advanced Seminar in History
Spring 2010HISTORY 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2010HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2010HISTORY 999Independent Work
Fall 2009HISTORY 891Proseminar in Modern European History
Fall 2009HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2009HISTORY/JEWISH 220Introduction to Modern Jewish History
Spring 2009HISTORY 199Directed Study
Spring 2009HISTORY 699Directed Study
Spring 2009HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2009HISTORY 999Independent Work
Fall 2008HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2008HISTORY 999Independent Work
Spring 2008HISTORY 891Proseminar in Modern European History
Spring 2008HISTORY 999Independent Work
Fall 2007HISTORY 199Directed Study
Fall 2007HISTORY/JEWISH 220Introduction to Modern Jewish History
Spring 2007HISTORY 999Independent Work
Fall 2006HISTORY 891Proseminar in Modern European History

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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