Robert Painter is a Linguistics professor at Northeastern University rated 4.27/5 by 232 students, with 3.23/5 difficulty and 95.0% who would take them again (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
Robert Painter professor reviews and ratings: 4.27/5 from 232 student reviews at Northeastern (95.0% would take again). TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
Professor Painter is my favorite lecturer I've had so far at Northeastern. He covers every subject in sufficient depth and very thoroughly responds to questions. Participation is very mandatory, but he is also very reasonable about it. Really cares about his students and seems invested in what you learn from the course.LING2350 2025-12-11 02:26:18 +0000 UTC
He has very organized class/lectures. You can tell he's passionate about linguistics. He's accessible outside of class and gives good assignments/feedback. He also rallies student participation a lot. The class (intro linguistics) is pretty easyLING1150 2025-12-09 22:13:29 +0000 UTC
He's extremely kind, engaging, intelligent, and endlessly forgiving. His lectures are a delight even if you aren't enraptured by the material. I'm incredibly grateful to have experienced his teaching---the ling path sometimes feels like the wrong move at NU, but the ling dept---and perhaps Painter, most of all---make all the difference in the worldLING3452 2023-06-17 23:05:44 +0000 UTC
I've had Dr. Painter a few times now, and he's phenomenal. He's always super prepared for class (having it scheduled down to the minute), his lectures are very clear, and he's always available via email or office hours. My only piece of criticism is that sometimes he goes very fast which can make it somewhat hard to follow.LING3424 2019-03-12 12:06:32 +0000 UTC
Robert Painter is my favorite professor at Northeastern. His classes are pretty dense - it helps to read the assigned materials, even though you're never tested on them. Difficult assignments each week, but no "midterm" or "final" in the form of an actual test. Very willing to help, clearly wants students to succeed.LING3458 2014-10-09 12:28:10 +0000 UTC
Ling2350 is a lot of work, the final writing project is not something you can procrastinate. He grades harshly but is fair. The quizzes are all free response but not too hard if you study. Put lots of work into your writing and meet in office hours frequently and you can get an A. He is an amazing professor and you will learn a lot.LING2350 2025-11-24 20:11:28 +0000 UTC
Professor Painter is awesome. He grades quickly and has very clear criteria for his expectations. His class is very easy and you learn a lot. I took it with 2 high courseload classes and had a very easy time. Take Professor Painter!!LING1150 2025-04-22 21:15:41 +0000 UTC
Dr. Painter's morphology class was something quite interesting for me. Although the in class lectures are not the most entertaining things, there is a lot of material covered and it's crucial that students attend each class. The homework assignments are also aligned quite well with the subject matter. Be prepared to learn about 100+ languages.LING3424 2017-04-14 14:34:10 +0000 UTC
Painter's classes are hard but you learn a lot, and he's very willing and available to help when you're having trouble. I learned more in linguistic analysis than I have in any other class to date, and I truly enjoyed the assignments, difficult as they were.LING2350 2018-10-03 10:34:17 +0000 UTC
1150 is easy but know that he will nerf your grade if you don't participate or miss class without an excuseLING1150 2025-04-07 02:19:12 +0000 UTC
Ling analysis is a hard class, and professor painter makes it fun. He's a great professor and very knowledgable, and I've heard that he's the only one who allows you to do the course project using books rather than speaking to native speakers to collect your own data (although, I'm not sure if that's entirely true).LING2350 2018-04-20 12:49:11 +0000 UTC
Super nice guy and really cares about his students. HW, midterm, and final are all take home and as long as you pay attention in class, you should do well on them.LING1150 2022-05-11 01:46:40 +0000 UTC
First of all, Professor Painter really cares about his students learning the material. Although this class requires a tremendous amount of writing for a 2000 level class (he calls it the Navy Seals Bootcamp), the writing assignments are totally worth it. Be prepared to learn, write and question a lot, but this class is totally worth it with himLING2350 2016-11-20 19:30:41 +0000 UTC
I have had Dr. Painter now for 2 classes and he is by far my favorite prof. He is so organized, clear, and passionate about ling. Even if the work you're doing at the moment seems dull, it doesn't matter because he is so excited about it. He really wants people to success and is very reasonable and helpful in terms of assignments. Take his classes!LING1150 2019-11-12 03:48:16 +0000 UTC
Wonderful professor. He's the reason I made it through Ling Analysis. Any other professor and I'm pretty sure I would have failed that class. He's helpful, very clear in his lectures, and gives a lot of feedback. He'll help students in any way he can. Try to seek him out if you're going to take LING 2350 or any Linguistics course.LING2350 2016-03-05 00:48:37 +0000 UTC
Robert Painter has an average rating of 4.27/5 from 232 student reviews. 95.0% of students said they would take them again.
Robert Painter's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.23/5 based on student reviews.
Robert Painter has taught LING1150, LING2350, LING3424, LING3420, LING4654, LING4891, LING3452, LING3442, LING3422 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.