Spring 2027

Introduction to Cartography

Introduction to Cartography covers the theory and practice of map-making, including mapping basics, data acquisition, thematic mapping techniques, and cartographic abstraction and design.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Bill Limpisathian3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Bill Limpisathian

Lectures were long and dense, and grading was described as pretty tough, though not designed to be impossible.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Design maps with the best and current cartographic principles in mind.

  • Execute original map designs from conceptualization to delivery while estimating and managing the time needed for an open-ended design project.

  • Design maps within client-defined constraints.

  • Acquire and prepare geographic datasets.

  • Follow and deviate from a cartographic workflow using contemporary cartography and GIS software.

  • Discuss cartographic design within its broader historical and social contexts.

  • Provide constructive feedback for peers and self during the process of design.

  • Place design principles within the contemporary cartographic literature.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
GEOG 370 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
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.00/5 from 1 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.

Past student reviews · Bill Limpisathian

Bill Limpisathian taught long, dense lectures that students found somewhat tedious and not particularly relevant to the course content. Grading was described as tough but not impossible, while Bill and his TAs remained helpful and accessible outside of class and during office hours.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.59 GPA, 76.8% A/AB (n=56 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.59 GPA, 76.7% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.53 GPA, 82.0% A/AB (n=61 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Robert Roth, Daniel Huffman

Robert Roth delivered clear, engaging lectures using modern examples, with exams that students found challenging but fair. The course was project-based, creating a high workload with uneven distribution, but students described the projects as rewarding and useful for building a portfolio. Daniel Huffman was also a historical instructor, but students reported that his grading was extremely harsh and the standards were extremely high.

BILL LIMPISATHIAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DANIEL PATRICK HUFFMAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2017, Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROBERT ROTH is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2023. 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 / 1000
LAB 301Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LAB 302Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LAB 303Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LAB 304Classroom Instruction0 / 250

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 · Bill Limpisathian

Bill Limpisathian led a fun but tedious course where students found the experience generally positive despite some content relevance issues.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.53 GPA, 82.0% A/AB (n=61 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.75 GPA, 86.8% A/AB (n=38 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.36 GPA, 61.2% A/AB (n=49 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Bill Limpisathian

Lectures were long and dense, and grading was described as pretty tough, though not designed to be impossible.

Past student reviews · Bill Limpisathian

Bill and his TAs were helpful and accessible outside of class and office hours, showing commitment to cartographic greatness.

Topics

  • Basics of mapping including scale, spatial reference systems, and projections
  • Data acquisition and preparation
  • Thematic mapping techniques
  • Cartographic abstraction and design principles

Skills

  • Designing maps using contemporary cartographic principles
  • Acquiring and preparing geographic datasets
  • Following and adapting cartographic workflows using GIS software
  • Discussing cartographic design in historical and social contexts
  • Providing constructive feedback on design work

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— 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 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

1280 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
GEOG 370 · Spring 2027

Introduction to Cartography

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": "1274:416:008272",
    "course_id": "GEOG 370",
    "course_uid": "course_4acea7da7ba501a17437b0f2",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "008272",
    "source_subject_id": "416",
    "title": "Introduction to Cartography",
    "credits_min": 4,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, 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.

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.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "098d5e0f9af9e742d2cb65f9598019f6d4854fb65a608a777194c55f0e57d93f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}