Fall 2026

Introduction to Contemporary Media

Introduction to contemporary media focusing on critical analysis of television, film, radio, and digital media.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Jason Lopez3.4/5Areyana ProctorMarianne Daphne Nacanaynay +1 more

Summary

1 / 7

Historical reviews of Lori Lopez: The course is writing-intensive with tough but thought-provoking paper prompts, while tests are generally considered fair and manageable if students attend lectures and complete readings.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
COMARTS 250 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

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.50/5 from 6 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.

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

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.23 GPA, 63.4% A/AB (n=213 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.39 GPA, 75.4% A/AB (n=224 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.39 GPA, 72.7% A/AB (n=132 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Jason Lopez is the current instructor, but historical reviews for Lori Lopez describe engaging, thought-provoking lectures with relevant examples, though some found the content repetitive and politically heavy. Some reviewers appreciated her humor and accessibility, while others criticized her strict scripting and dense slides. Disagreement exists on lecture engagement and content depth.

JASON LOPEZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LORI LOPEZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2020. 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 001Online (some classroom)235 / 2400
DIS 301Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 305Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 306Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 307Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 308Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 309Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 310Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 311Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 312Classroom Instruction20 / 200

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 of Lori Lopez: Reviewers for Lori Lopez describe her lectures as interesting and thought-provoking. Conversely, other students found the content repetitive and her strict scripting with dense slides made lectures unengaging.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.39 GPA, 72.7% A/AB (n=132 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.23 GPA, 64.2% A/AB (n=229 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.17 GPA, 68.6% A/AB (n=86 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Lori Lopez: The course is writing-intensive with tough but thought-provoking paper prompts, while tests are generally considered fair and manageable if students attend lectures and complete readings.

Historical reviews of Lori Lopez: Students appreciate the relevant examples and engaging lectures, though those uninterested in social politics or heavy writing may find the content challenging.

Topics

  • Television, film, radio, and digital media
  • Meanings, aesthetics, technology, media industries, representations, and audiences

Skills

  • Critical analysis of various media forms
  • Understanding media meanings, aesthetics, and industries

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
COMARTS 250 · Fall 2026

Introduction to Contemporary Media

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": "1272:250:003784",
    "course_id": "COMARTS 250",
    "course_uid": "course_fb12f8f4e36e2746ff4a6bd9",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "003784",
    "source_subject_id": "250",
    "title": "Introduction to Contemporary Media",
    "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 2026-09-07

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": "487175fcc5f1613a0ae9d4170c118eecef6e26c9d99b7d24f7c11bd474039bf0",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}