Fall 2026

Introduction to East Asian Civilizations

Introduction to East Asian civilizations covering China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Mongolia from prehistory to the present.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Anchana Wachira-AsakonSteve Ridgely

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews of Anatoly Detwyler: Workload involves mandatory attendance and substantial reading, with straightforward quizzes based on those readings rather than complex 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
ASIAN/HISTORY/POLISCI 255

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2016: 3.43 GPA, 65.5% A/AB (n=58 letter grades); Spring 2018: 3.35 GPA, 69.1% A/AB (n=68 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Anatoly Detwyler highlight his deep knowledge and passion for East Asian history, though some found his lectures dry. He is accessible outside class and maintains strict attendance and participation requirements. Grading relies on readings, discussion quizzes, and a final project rather than traditional exams.

ANATOLY DETWYLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

STEVEN C RIDGELY is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Spring 2018. 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 Instruction27 / 990
LEC 001Classroom Instruction18 / 990
LEC 001Classroom Instruction32 / 990

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

Historical reviews for Anatoly Detwyler describe a relaxed, low-stress course with no traditional exams, relying instead on participation, readings, and a final game project.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.65 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=52 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.78 GPA, 90.4% A/AB (n=73 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.68 GPA, 83.9% A/AB (n=56 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Anatoly Detwyler: Workload involves mandatory attendance and substantial reading, with straightforward quizzes based on those readings rather than complex exams.

Historical reviews of Anatoly Detwyler: Students report mixed lecture engagement; some found the material dry or projects disconnected, while others found the lectures interesting and the professor passionate.

Topics

  • Philosophy, economy, governance, social structure, kinship, and geography

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 · 0.13 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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
ASIAN/HISTORY/POLISCI 255 · Fall 2026

Introduction to East Asian Civilizations

Recorded 2026-09-07
ASIAN/HISTORY/POLISCI 255 · Fall 2026

Introduction to East Asian Civilizations

Recorded 2026-09-07
ASIAN/HISTORY/POLISCI 255 · Fall 2026

Introduction to East Asian Civilizations

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
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    "semester": "1272",
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    "course_id": "ASIAN/HISTORY/POLISCI 255",
    "course_uid": "course_7d1cf5788158662543402f24",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "015878",
    "source_subject_id": "185",
    "title": "Introduction to East Asian Civilizations",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  },
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    "credits_min": 3,
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  },
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
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    "offering_id": "1272:778:015878",
    "course_id": "ASIAN/HISTORY/POLISCI 255",
    "course_uid": "course_7d1cf5788158662543402f24",
    "term_id": "1272",
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    "source_subject_id": "778",
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    "credits_min": 3,
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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 2026-09-07

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": "382e3baca6e26aa4622eb6c6a68c678499072624d216abf7a438db4fc579f645",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}