Spring 2027

Principles of Biological Anthropology

Principles of Biological Anthropology covering the genetic basis of morphological, physiological, and behavioral variations in human populations and their evolution.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 John Hawks3.9/5

Summary

1 / 5

Past student reviews · John Hawks

Weekly quizzes are reasonable and open-note. Students reported earning high grades with low workload by paying attention in lecture and completing readings.

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
ANTHRO 105 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. 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: 4.00/5 from 107 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: 4.1/5 raw quality · 2.3/5 difficulty · 30 reviews

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

Past student reviews · John Hawks

John Hawks taught an engaging, low-workload course with weekly quizzes and no exams. Students found the material accessible and appreciated the fun lectures, though some inquiry assignments were challenging. This class counted toward bio credits.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.87 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=548 letter grades); Fall 2021: 3.58 GPA, 83.0% A/AB (n=506 letter grades); Fall 2022: 3.70 GPA, 89.3% A/AB (n=591 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Richard McFarland, Margaret Bryer

Past students described Richard McFarland as an entertaining lecturer, though one found his tests heavy and challenging. Margaret Bryer’s sections featured four exams with the lowest grade dropped, and she was praised for understanding makeup requests. Students noted that lecture attendance helped with tests, while labs were short and manageable.

JOHN HAWKS is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2014, Spring 2016, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARGARET BRYER is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MICHAEL JOHN TILKENS is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Spring 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

RICHARD MCFARLAND is recorded teaching in Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

TRAVIS PICKERING is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 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 / 2500
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 308Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 309Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 312Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 313Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 314Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 315Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 317Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 318Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 319Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 320Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 316Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 311Classroom Instruction0 / 200
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 2500
DIS 323Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 324Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 325Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 310Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 321Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 322Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 306Classroom 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 · John Hawks

John Hawks is an engaging lecturer who teaches a course with no exams. Grading relies on weekly quizzes based on lecture and reading content.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.47 GPA, 68.0% A/AB (n=381 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.54 GPA, 79.0% A/AB (n=434 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.46 GPA, 70.1% A/AB (n=284 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · John Hawks

Weekly quizzes are reasonable and open-note. Students reported earning high grades with low workload by paying attention in lecture and completing readings.

Past student reviews · John Hawks

Lectures were fun and easy to follow, though inquiry assignments were challenging. Attending lab sections helped students manage the material effectively.

Topics

  • Genetic basis of human variation
  • Origins and evolution of human populations

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · 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 · 0.16 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

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
ANTHRO 105 · Spring 2027

Principles of Biological Anthropology

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": "1274:156:000805",
    "course_id": "ANTHRO 105",
    "course_uid": "course_31e91bbc6e3be8c0f49483f2",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "000805",
    "source_subject_id": "156",
    "title": "Principles of Biological Anthropology",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
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 1Download part 2Download part 3
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "698425afbf908b01e16638839c2b74270816134979f0a34eca5f35f4ca0ab698",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}