I took Tyerman's FYE Madness class. It was amazing. He is amazing. He's part of the Slavic Department and from what I understood his PhD work is on the relationship between China and Russia. Talk about madness. While I'm not sure he'll teach this seminar again, I can still talk to his teaching ability. Professor Tyerman cares about his student and the subject he's teaching. He gave a huge variety of texts to read- from Shakespeare to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Chinese and Russian short stories. In addition, we watched films such as Solaris and Vertigo.
Class discussions consisted of Professor Tyerman asking a broad question and allowing students to answer and articulate ideas. If a student had difficulty speaking, Professor Tyerman would reiterate back to the student and the class what the student had tried to say and ask if that was correct. He never stepped on a student's ideas or opinions, only asking more questions so students could better formulate what they were thinking. The only issue I found is that sometimes Professor Tyerman can be too nice, but perhaps this is because I had an extremely mean English teacher in high school. I once had made a comment in class and Professor Tyerman didn't agree and said so. I did not feel that it was mean, embarrassing or anything negative- he just didn't agree. He ended up writing me an email to say that he didn't mean to not listen to my ideas. He wants students to feel comfortable expressing themselves and definitely came across!
Essays were graded twice -first a rough draft. I thought he was always completely fair in his comments and grades. He would tell you what needs to be more clarified or supported, or perhaps your argument just didn't make sense. As long as you followed his comments and suggestions, you would get a higher grade.
Office hours were not only helpful, but fun. Professor Tyerman is genuinely interested in what you have to say and in what you think. I went several times to his OH asking questions about class discussions, potential essay topics, and first drafts. He answered my questions directly, but also posed questions about my ideas and thoughts, forcing me to actually, really think about what I wanted to say and not what I thought he wanted me to say.
In addition, since I had attended so many OH, I asked Professor Tyerman to be a reference for an internship I was applying for. He happily agreed and after I got the job, he asked me about my work and how things we going there. He really, truly cares.
I have no interest whatsoever in Slavic Studies, but I will without a doubt take another class with Professor Tyerman even if the subject does not interest me, because I know Professor Tyerman will engage me in class and I will end up caring since he does.