SLAV 2360

Fun fact- I only read about this course after seeing it on Lou's List for signing up for the summer session (for reference- I'm a rising third year).

Guys, I cannot possibly recommend this class enough. First of all, it's ridiculously easy. Can't speak for the fall and spring semesters, but I stopped taking notes on the second day, and just enjoyed what was going on. The readings are super easy and take, maybe, 45 minutes each. No tests, no papers, no quizzes (though the readings do have interactive questions you need to answer, but are super easy). Second of all, the content is interesting! Thinking about how Dracula and vampires are presented in tv shows, movies, books, animes, comics, videogames, and how they relate to EVERYTHING. Like, who knew you could have discussions on racial relations and mental health policy by talking about vampires? You do now! Third of all, Stepanic is the man. I once had a professor take three weeks to respond to an email. Stepanic responded to all three of mine within an average of three minutes. As someone who has had some recent mental health struggles too, it was so nice to see him listen to what I had to say and things I could do cope.

Overall, this is the best class offered at UVA and I wish from the bottom of my soul that there were both more classes like it and more professors like Stepanic.

PS- if you are thinking "Ugh am I going to have to read the novel?" Spoiler alert- he hates the book, and gives you a summary of it in lecture, so don't even trip.

Stanley is an eclectic, entertaining professor who does a good job taking a potentially boring material and elevating it. He'll often go off on tangents but they're actually really entertaining in a shocking way. I took it over the summer so I'm not sure how much it changes during the semester but if you stay on track with the work, it's an easy A. He's a great professor and knows how to interact with his students really well. He actually values his student's thoughts and prides himself on communication. He will respond to emails super quickly. Really good way to fulfill a requirement or in my case, just to get an easy A.

Step is such a sweet man and this class really was worthwhile. I was nervous taking this class through Zoom University, but his lectures felt more like watching a gamer or someone livestream. Some of the topics were very boring or dense; however, it was never difficult. I was never too interested in the historical aspects of the class, but I really did enjoy the stories about Step's life. His stories and experiences are definitely the best part of the class IMO. I really appreciated this class because Step was always flexible with deadlines, questions, or lectures. If you ever missed class due to internet connections or had timezone issues, Step would reset the questions and allow you to take them. Everyone in this class has a chance to get a 100. All the questions/lecture comprehension checks and homework questions were on TopHat. If TopHat ever had a glitch or issue, Step would take care of it and make sure you got the grade you deserve. Even though I took this class over the summer, I'd spend about 30 minutes after class and would get all of the chapters/questions done. It really isn't a time consuming class. This class really isn't meant to evaluate you or compare you to your peers, but to give you a chance to just sit down and experience something. I'd recommend anyone take this class!!

Taking this class online was the best choice i've ever made. The class normally has 2 essays you have to write, but because of online learning, he decided to get rid of the 2 essays and just do tophat questions. Stanley is great, his lectures are legit like watching a twitch streamer, and you do not have to take notes at all. I initially started to but realized I didn't need to. The midterm and final are open note, open google, open friend, and you have A MONTH to take it. You can just log in and answer a few questions at a time, really easy. My only recommendation is to REALLY do the homework and focus on getting the answers correct, because thats what makes up a majority of your grade. Take your time and read through it. This class was awesome, could not recommend more. #tCFfall20! #tCFfall20

This is such an easy class and there is a reason it is on many of the must-takes at UVA before you gradate. Stanley is a funny and interesting man, and he definitely is an expert on all things Slavic history and vampires. Online midterm and final which were easy to use process of elimination even if you didn't know the material. He uses Tophat for the participation and correctness points (like clicker points but virtually) but he maxes them out at the end so even if you missed a decent amount, you could still get most of the points or all. Very funny class 10/10. #tCF2020

I will always be grateful for that A+ that I got from this class, because you don't get too many of those in college (or maybe you do, that's fine, forget this). This is an easy class, but I did get that grade by going to every class for Top Hat participation points and doing the (very easy) homework and exams somewhat carefully (which is obviously far from sufficient to get you a A+ for most classes). There are also plenty of classes out here where the instructor hopefully knows that people are just taking his/her class to satisfy certain graduation requirements and mastery of course material is not super important for their careers and lives so it's really ideal if he/she just grades somewhat leniently and everyone just part ways peacefully... and still decides to make life extra hard for the students. It makes you really grateful for a class like Dracula where the instructors knows better than that, so that you can actually have fun with the class.
Also I should note that Prof. Stepanic has a style of humor that most people seem to appreciate most of the time, but possibly not everyone and not all the time. I personally mind very little what joke or anecdote he decides to throw in, but there were definitely points in time where the class collectively decides to have 0 reaction either because something's taken slightly too far or because it's many weeks into the semester and it's now became clear that it's safe to sleep through parts of the class... I would say go to his classes before the Add/Drop deadline and if something about his style has unfortunately hit you right in some of your pet peeves, then don't persist through the entire semester because it's not gonna get better. But then overall Dracula is supposed to be some kind of a fun class and not too much more, unless you study vampires. I went to Stepanic's other class on Russian films once (did not keep going because schedule conflicts) and thought it was brilliant; perhaps not less fun but a lot more information and substance.

There's a reason why this is one of the most popular, if not THE most popular, classes at uva. Dracula is really one of a kind, and out of the 4 years I've been here, this one is the best one to me, hands down. Lectures were engaging and interesting with lots of great stories from the professor, the professor himself is a such a cool dude and is very caring, and even the textbook was enjoyable to read with lots of different outside sources. Workload-wise, jterm dracula is a little different than the semester or even summer session ones since we only have two weeks to cram in all of the content. Having said that, I 100% recommend doing it over jterm since the only work you have to do for the class are top hat questions during lecture, homework assignments that come straight from the book, and 3 small, very easy projects. The only reason why I gave such a high reading score is because we covered multiple chapters a day, which translated to about 2 hours of homework a night for me. Aside from that, having no essays or exams were definitely a big plus for me. We do have a "final" though that's just one big game of the class roleplaying as vampires haha. Overall, if there was one word I could use to describe this class, it would be pure, unadulterated FUN. Professor Stepanic is an absolute legend for making the class what it is, you won't regret taking it!

In short, this is the first J-Term class I ever took because UVA gave students the opportunity to take a J-term course for free. This is by far the EASIEST COLLEGE COURSE I HAVE EVER TAKEN. The irony: I struggle with humanities-related classes and I am a biology major. This is a class that I put at the top of the podium that every student across the board must take before they graduate, regardless of what point in the school year. I would call this class an EASY A+, not an easy A. Your grade is based on a point total. Most of the points you get are from textbook reading after class. Professor Stepanic wrote the textbook himself and the questions are built into it. The class covers roughly 3-4 lectures per day during J-Term. There are participation questions that count towards your point total. There are also several projects that count towards it. Your final grade is your total number of points gained divided by the total points possible. During normal times, this class has field trips. The class has been greatly simplified once it moved online, which made it EVEN EASIER than what it was before COVID. The textbook questions are honestly very straightforward and the projects are very easy. No exams during J-Term. This course is a definite MUST-TAKE.

Stepanic is an incredibly passionate and well-read professor. He knows so much about this subject its insane. He is also incredibly understanding and will open up assignments for you if you miss a deadline. However, the class itself is slightly overrated. It should be "History of Vampires" rather than Dracula, as the subject of Dracula itself is maybe two weeks of the entire course. A lot of the subject matter drags and can be boring very easily.

Of course you have to take Dracula!! Stepanic is really passionate and interesting- and a little strange at times but that made class fun. You have interactive readings due weekly, and a really easy open-book take home midterm and final. It really is the best and easiest class you'll take at UVA and you'll appreciate the mental break.