Ekaterina Mikhailovna is the best, great professor with a great class. Typically 4th year Russian will be smaller than 3rd year since you only need to go up to RUSS 3020 to fulfill the major requirements, but honestly the fact that it was a smaller class (we met in a conference room for the entire semester) meant that I learned and improved much more than I would have otherwise. Mainly focused on grammar with a lot of cultural content covered throughout the semester. Lots of small assignments, at least a few pages of homework per class, a couple presentations throughout the semester and a midterm + final. That's a good thing though, since that means that each individual assignment can't tank your grade too much if you don't do well. Overall, great class, would 100% recommend to anyone looking to get even better at Russian.

Katia is easily the best Russian instructor I have ever had. I've learned more in a few months with her than I did in all of Russian 3. Also, her classroom feels very low stakes and she encourages students to make mistakes in order to learn. If you're worried about the courseload of RUSS 4010 or taking the course with a new instructor, you have literally nothing to worry about. There are lots of assignments but each one actually does contribute to and improve your learning. Cannot recommend enough!