Fall 2026

Ancient Greek and Roman Monsters

CLASSICS 150 investigates ancient Greek and Roman monsters through texts and art, comparing them to modern media.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 William Brockliss4.1/5Alexander Houseman

Summary

1 / 6

Students consistently report a heavy reading load and significant work volume. Assessments include in-class essays, midterms, and a final paper, with some noting that exams are difficult and require extensive recall of difficult texts.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
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C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
CLASSICS 150

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026

William Brockliss

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

Raw average: 4.26/5 from 39 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: 4.3/5 raw quality · 2.2/5 difficulty · 17 reviews

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

William Brockliss is described as enthusiastic and engaging, with clear grading expectations and extra credit opportunities. Some reviewers find the class easy and stress-free, while others report significant reading loads and difficult, essay-based exams. Reviewers note the course requires consistent attendance and participation to succeed.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.71 GPA, 88.8% A/AB (n=89 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.58 GPA, 80.9% A/AB (n=131 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.86 GPA, 97.2% A/AB (n=144 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

WILLIAM BROCKLISS is recorded teaching in Spring 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. 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 Instruction134 / 1400

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

William Brockliss teaches an engaging and fun class on monsters, though students report significant reading loads and varying exam difficulty. While many find his grading lenient and clear, others note that exams require deep understanding and recall of difficult texts.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.71 GPA, 88.8% A/AB (n=89 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.58 GPA, 80.9% A/AB (n=131 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.86 GPA, 97.2% A/AB (n=144 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Students consistently report a heavy reading load and significant work volume. Assessments include in-class essays, midterms, and a final paper, with some noting that exams are difficult and require extensive recall of difficult texts.

Reviewers praise Brockliss for being enthusiastic, clear, and accommodating, with many highlighting extra credit opportunities. However, one student noted the class was a power lecture with no discussion, requiring participation for a good grade.

Topics

  • Monsters as forces of chaos
  • Monsters as sources of knowledge
  • Monsters with enigmatic intelligence
  • Modern depictions of monsters

Skills

  • Investigate ancient monsters through texts and art
  • Compare ancient and modern representations of monsters

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.

7 earlier forecasts · 0.12 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 · Fall 2025 · 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

1320 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
CLASSICS 150 · Fall 2026

Ancient Greek and Roman Monsters

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": "1272:244:024151",
    "course_id": "CLASSICS 150",
    "course_uid": "course_23bd5239c3fda1e1bf55f8c1",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "024151",
    "source_subject_id": "244",
    "title": "Ancient Greek and Roman Monsters",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Every Other 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 2026-09-07

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": "33519da1842ed1176986c8993edd4b34ab9d333c24d3fb335e72e6de72dc6f6f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}