Spring 2027

Latin America: an Introduction

Introduction to Latin American culture and society from an interdisciplinary perspective, covering historical developments from pre-Columbian times to the present.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Kathryn Sanchez3.9/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Kathryn Sanchez

Lectures delivered a lot of information quickly, requiring diligent note-taking to succeed on tests. One student noted that multiple-choice questions often targeted small details mentioned only once during class.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Analyze Latin American culture and society from an interdisciplinary perspective.

  • Examine historical developments from pre-Columbian times to the present.

  • Identify political movements, economic problems, social change, and ecology in Latin America.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2 UW Guide 3 UW Guide 4 UW Guide 5 UW Guide 6 UW Guide 7 UW Guide 8 UW Guide 9

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/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.14/5 from 14 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: 4.0/5 raw quality · 2.8/5 difficulty · 5 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Kathryn Sanchez

Kathryn Sanchez taught the course with three midterms and no final, providing a note sheet for each exam. Students noted that slides contained little text, making it harder to prepare for multiple-choice questions based on specific lecture details.

While some students found Sanchez kind and interesting, others described her lectures as hard to follow and her PowerPoint slides as picture-heavy rather than text-based.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2017: 3.49 GPA, 69.8% A/AB (n=106 letter grades); Spring 2019: 3.43 GPA, 71.7% A/AB (n=53 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.61 GPA, 78.7% A/AB (n=47 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Patrick Iber, Marcella Hayes

Patrick Iber presented material engagingly, using culture breaks to avoid long lectures, while assessments included midterms, a final, and attendance points. Marcella Hayes taught complex histories as stories, supplemented with images and quotes; her grade relied heavily on papers and a writing-intensive exam. Students found both instructors accessible and passionate about the subject.

KATHRYN SANCHEZ is recorded teaching in Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LEVI CROSS is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARCELLA HAYES is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PATRICK IBER is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

STEVE J. STERN is recorded teaching in Spring 2008. 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 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 800
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Kathryn Sanchez

Students found the subject matter, particularly ancient civilizations, incredibly interesting and engaging. Kathryn Sanchez was described as knowledgeable, personable, and passionate about Latin American history.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.60 GPA, 79.7% A/AB (n=74 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.65 GPA, 88.2% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.61 GPA, 78.7% A/AB (n=47 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Kathryn Sanchez

Lectures delivered a lot of information quickly, requiring diligent note-taking to succeed on tests. One student noted that multiple-choice questions often targeted small details mentioned only once during class.

Past student reviews · Kathryn Sanchez

Some students found the lectures hard to follow because the slides contained pictures rather than notes. Others appreciated Sanchez's enthusiasm, though the reliance on oral details made studying for exams challenging.

Topics

  • Historical developments from pre-Columbian times to the present
  • Political movements, economic problems, social change, and ecology
  • Legal systems, literature, arts, and US-Latin America cultural contrasts
  • Land reform, labor movements, capitalism, socialism, imperialism, and mass media

Skills

  • Interdisciplinary analysis of culture and society
  • Examining historical developments
  • Identifying political, economic, and ecological factors

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

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

1280 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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
AFROAMER/ANTHRO/C&ESOC/GEOG/HISTORY/LACIS/POLISCI/SOC/SPANISH 260 · Spring 2027

Latin America: An Introduction

Recorded 2026-10-14
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Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
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 
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  "output_id": "4ceaa788fc4361f1a868da27cb1f72c7dcea6a13d49287ce9c07d1a063c466ef",
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