Spring 2027

Environmental Ethics

Environmental Ethics examines the adequacy of ethical theories in handling wrongs like harm to the land, posterity, endangered species, and ecosystems.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Aja Watkins

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Frederic Neyrat

In a summer section, the entire course grade was determined by four assignments, with students noting the instructor was knowledgeable but not a pushover.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Examine an array of moral questions related to the environment.

  • Explain some of the key positions taken by philosophers related to environmental philosophy.

  • Critically evaluate philosophical arguments.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing

  • Junior standing
ENVIRST/PHILOS 441

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Junior standing

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JAMES C. ANDERSON is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010. 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 690
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 230
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 230
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 230
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 690
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 230
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 230

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

Past student reviews · Frederic Neyrat

Students described the instructor as kind and accommodating, noting a willingness to listen and a supportive classroom atmosphere.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.02 GPA, 40.9% A/AB (n=44 letter grades); Spring 2020: 3.23 GPA, 54.5% A/AB (n=44 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=18 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Frederic Neyrat

In a summer section, the entire course grade was determined by four assignments, with students noting the instructor was knowledgeable but not a pushover.

Past student reviews · Frederic Neyrat

Reviewers mentioned the instructor had an accent that could be difficult to understand, though they made efforts to ensure clarity during lectures.

Topics

  • Harm to land, posterity, endangered species, and ecosystems
  • Moral wrongs involving non-humans
  • Quality of life and lifeboat ethics

Skills

  • Critically evaluate philosophical arguments.
  • Examine moral questions related to the environment.

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

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/PHILOS 441 · Spring 2027

Environmental Ethics

Recorded 2026-10-14
ENVIRST/PHILOS 441 · Spring 2027

Environmental Ethics

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:360:007315",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/PHILOS 441",
    "course_uid": "course_399fe2a2b7c3f8d81bed21ee",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "007315",
    "source_subject_id": "360",
    "title": "Environmental Ethics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:736:007315",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/PHILOS 441",
    "course_uid": "course_399fe2a2b7c3f8d81bed21ee",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "007315",
    "source_subject_id": "736",
    "title": "Environmental Ethics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
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 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "dcb7ce750bfa0ccb80a08ae22e36ef35ad242e01d2aec99e009858060e0a6d9f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}