Fall 2026

Black Music and American Cultural History

Examines the interaction between African American musical culture and its historical context from 1920 to the present.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Alexander Shashko4.8/5Emma-Claire LasaineJoanna Ruiz +1 more

Summary

1 / 7

Assessment structures vary, with some reviews citing two exams and one paper, while others describe grading based on three essays and discussion attendance without exams.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
AFROAMER 156

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026

Alexander Shashko

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.87/5 from 201 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.

For this course: 4.9/5 raw quality · 2.0/5 difficulty · 24 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Alexander Shashko is consistently praised as an incredibly knowledgeable and passionate lecturer who makes the material engaging and easy to follow. Reviewers highlight his clear teaching style and deep expertise in music history, noting that his lectures are a primary reason for their positive experience in the course.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.85 GPA, 95.1% A/AB (n=286 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 94.8% A/AB (n=288 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.86 GPA, 94.6% A/AB (n=279 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ALEXANDER SHASHKO is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction299 / 3005
DIS 301Classroom Instruction34 / 252
DIS 305Classroom Instruction25 / 250
DIS 307Classroom Instruction23 / 253
DIS 302Classroom Instruction24 / 250
DIS 303Classroom Instruction25 / 250
DIS 304Classroom Instruction25 / 250
DIS 306Classroom Instruction25 / 250
DIS 308Classroom Instruction25 / 250
DIS 309Classroom Instruction21 / 250
DIS 310Classroom Instruction24 / 250
DIS 311Classroom Instruction24 / 250
DIS 312Classroom Instruction24 / 250

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Alexander Shashko delivers engaging lectures that students find incredibly clear and informative, making the class one of the most enjoyable experiences at UW-Madison.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.85 GPA, 95.1% A/AB (n=286 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 94.8% A/AB (n=288 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.86 GPA, 94.6% A/AB (n=279 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Assessment structures vary, with some reviews citing two exams and one paper, while others describe grading based on three essays and discussion attendance without exams.

Students highly recommend attending lectures due to their engaging nature, noting that papers are difficult without class participation and that the professor is passionate and caring.

Topics

  • Black music and American cultural history
  • African American musical culture
  • Historical context of music

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.06 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
AFROAMER 156 · Fall 2026

Black Music and American Cultural History

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:106:000210",
    "course_id": "AFROAMER 156",
    "course_uid": "course_906a2502e03a82d23e6eb0fa",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "000210",
    "source_subject_id": "106",
    "title": "Black Music and American Cultural History",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "a37cdf0ffb446090562c40a24c9bd52181005c46b0a064348ba474e2823a13da",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}