Fall 2026

Topics in Film and Media Studies

COMARTS 313 explores various topics in film and media studies, history, and theory.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Jonathan Gray3.9/5Jeff Smith3.6/5Max Kaplan +2 more

Summary

1 / 7

Historical reviews of Ben Singer: The course definitions are confusing and use big words, but understanding the general idea is sufficient for success.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
COMARTS 313

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Fall 2026
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.97/5 from 33 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 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.25/5 from 4 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 — Fall 2025: 3.06 GPA, 48.1% A/AB (n=27 letter grades).

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2025: 3.37 GPA, 69.6% A/AB (n=23 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.28 GPA, 61.8% A/AB (n=76 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Ben Singer's COMARTS 313 note that he effectively uses film clips to engage students. However, the course definitions are described as confusing due to complex vocabulary, though understanding the general concepts is sufficient for success.

JEFFREY SMITH is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JONATHAN GRAY is recorded teaching in Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAXTON HAVEN is recorded teaching in Fall 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction67 / 670
LEC 003Classroom Instruction45 / 600
LEC 004Classroom Instruction30 / 720
LEC 005Classroom Instruction80 / 800
DIS 330Classroom Instruction45 / 600
DIS 340Classroom Instruction30 / 720
DIS 351Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 352Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 353Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 354Classroom 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
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

A historical review of Professor Ben Singer's Film Comedy course indicates an engaging experience where the instructor effectively uses film clips to entertain students.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.62 GPA, 76.4% A/AB (n=55 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.38 GPA, 70.9% A/AB (n=127 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.34 GPA, 66.2% A/AB (n=269 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Ben Singer: The course definitions are confusing and use big words, but understanding the general idea is sufficient for success.

Historical reviews of Ben Singer: Students enjoyed the class and found the professor knowledgeable, though the dense terminology presented a hurdle.

Topics

  • Film and media studies
  • History
  • Theory

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

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

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 313 · Fall 2026

Topics in Film and Media Studies

Recorded 2026-09-07
COMARTS 313 · Fall 2026

Crime Films Today

Recorded 2026-09-07
COMARTS 313 · Fall 2026

Horror Films

Recorded 2026-09-07
COMARTS 313 · Fall 2026

Television's Greatest Hits

Recorded 2026-09-07
COMARTS 313 · Fall 2026

Pop Music Cinema

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records 
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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

View the dataset on Hugging Face
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 
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  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "af91f12bd73765ca2c4e5431c05c7fc46b81b7b76642155efd946aeafad357ec",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
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}