Fall 2026

Development and Environment in Southeast Asia

Examines political, socio-cultural, economic, and ecological aspects of development and human-environment relations in mainland Southeast Asia.

offering recorded3 credits

Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Ian Baird3.5/5

Summary

1 / 5

The course involves two papers, readings, lectures, and a final exam, with unclear assignment expectations and specific exam questions.

Grade history

↗

average GPA
letter grades

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing

Junior standing

ENVIRST/GEOG 557

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

Prerequisite text tree

Junior standing

Professors

Fall 2026

Ian Baird

/5Adjusted rating

/5RMP difficulty

captured reviews

About this rating

Raw average: 3.36/5 from 22 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: 3.3/5 raw quality · 4.0/5 difficulty · 3 reviews

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

Ian Baird is knowledgeable and engaging, teaching from direct experience in SE Asia and environmental politics. Reviewers find his traditional lecturing style interesting, though he provides minimal direction on the two required papers.

Some students find Ian Baird intimidating and condescending, citing offensive remarks and poor justification for controversial issues. Reviewers also note unclear assignment expectations and specific exam questions.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.66 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=16 letter grades); Fall 2022: 3.88 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=4 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.16 GPA, 57.9% A/AB (n=19 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

IAN BAIRD is recorded teaching in Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2015, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Fall 2024, 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.

Section	Mode	Enrolled / capacity	Waitlist
LEC 001	Classroom Instruction	3 / 30	0
LEC 001	Classroom Instruction	3 / 30	0

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

Ian Baird is a knowledgeable expert who teaches from direct experience, though students report his style as either engaging or intimidating and condescending.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.66 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=16 letter grades); Fall 2022: 3.88 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=4 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.16 GPA, 57.9% A/AB (n=19 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course involves two papers, readings, lectures, and a final exam, with unclear assignment expectations and specific exam questions.

Students found the lecturing style engaging but noted minimal direction on papers, requiring in-person consultation for those struggling with writing.

Topics

Political, socio-cultural, economic, and ecological aspects of development
Human-environment relations in mainland Southeast Asia
Rural development issues

Skills

Applying critical and theoretical perspectives to development issues

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2024— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Through Fall 2024

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

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

ENVIRST/GEOG 557 · Fall 2026

Development and Environment in Southeast Asia

Recorded 2026-09-07

ENVIRST/GEOG 557 · Fall 2026

Development and Environment in Southeast Asia

Recorded 2026-09-07

Raw records

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    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:360:023577",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/GEOG 557",
    "course_uid": "course_6f4b098fcd4f7a218f40f51e",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "023577",
    "source_subject_id": "360",
    "title": "Development and Environment in Southeast Asia",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:416:023577",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/GEOG 557",
    "course_uid": "course_6f4b098fcd4f7a218f40f51e",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "023577",
    "source_subject_id": "416",
    "title": "Development and Environment in Southeast Asia",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]

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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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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": "0eb785dfaa5d4c6c98f4fbdecbfec59c9dacf34d8b69d482ccee961483cba2b5",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}