Spring 2027

Race and American Politics From the New Deal to the New Right

Survey of race's role in American politics from 1932 to present, focusing on the Second Reconstruction, Black Power, white backlash, and contemporary racial issues.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Alexander Shashko4.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Alexander Shashko

The class consumed more time than expected, with comprehensive tests focusing on memorization. In one term, grades relied on Q&A participation and three reasonably graded papers.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Trace the history of race relations in the United States through the lens of 20th and 21st century American history.

  • Describe the relationship between cultural and social history.

  • Communicate with others about African American music history in a way that displays an understanding of intercultural knowledge.

  • Use the history of the connection between African American music history and activism to build a foundation for community based civic engagement.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
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AB
B
BC
C
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
AFROAMER 272

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027

Alexander Shashko

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.87/5 from 202 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: 4.4/5 raw quality · 2.2/5 difficulty · 12 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Alexander Shashko

Alexander Shashko delivered engaging, story-like lectures that students found clear and enthusiastic. Assessments included exam prompts provided in advance, Q&A participation, and a few papers. Reviewers described him as knowledgeable and helpful, noting that the course offered a strong introduction to the material.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ALEXANDER SHASHKO is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 300

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

Past student reviews · Alexander Shashko

Professor Shashko was an engaging lecturer who explained material clearly. Students found the course interesting and useful for gaining ethnic studies breadth.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=25 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Alexander Shashko

The class consumed more time than expected, with comprehensive tests focusing on memorization. In one term, grades relied on Q&A participation and three reasonably graded papers.

Past student reviews · Alexander Shashko

Students noted that exam prompts were provided two weeks in advance, allowing them to focus on specific book sections. This structure helped some save time on readings.

Topics

  • Origins and accomplishments of the Second Reconstruction
  • Black Power and white backlash
  • Contemporary racial politics and issues
  • African American music history and intercultural knowledge

Skills

  • Tracing the history of race relations in the United States
  • Describing the relationship between cultural and social history
  • Building a foundation for community-based civic engagement using African American music history and activism

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

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 272 · Spring 2027

Race and American Politics from the New Deal to the New Right

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:106:021950",
    "course_id": "AFROAMER 272",
    "course_uid": "course_0cef1b0782ff41cc219c17e7",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "021950",
    "source_subject_id": "106",
    "title": "Race and American Politics from the New Deal to the New Right",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
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.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "f669ba70cbff7d22c7084e5f3b5d847bf516a679539809c9210420d7019890bb",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}