Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.83 GPA, 88.9% A/AB (n=18 letter grades).
Fall 2026
Historical Studies
HISTORICAL STUDIES introduces historical studies at the research university with an emphasis on interpretation and critical thinking.
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Ben Shannon
Summary
1 / 6
Assignments include weekly readings, one-page papers, and a long research paper. Workload varies from minimal attendance to mandatory participation and strict deadlines under historical instructors like Claire Taylor.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing or 3 credits in HISTORY
- Sophomore standing
- 3 credits in HISTORY
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- Sophomore standing
- 3 credits in HISTORY
Professors
Fall 2026Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Historical reviews of Francine Hirsch: Francine Hirsch is praised as intelligent, passionate, and helpful for new students, though one review notes the material may not always be interesting. Reviewers describe her as making the transition to college seamless and looking forward to her class every week.
BEN SHANNON is recorded teaching in Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
CINDY CHENG is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Fall 2022, Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
CLAIRE TAYLOR is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
DANIEL STOLZ is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
FRANCINE HIRSCH is recorded teaching in Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
MOU BANERJEE is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2022, 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
Fall 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 15 / 15 | 0 |
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Historical reviews for instructors like Francine Hirsch and Cindy Cheng describe History 200 as varying significantly by professor. Students report either enjoying supportive teaching or struggling with vague expectations and strict policies.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.26 GPA, 59.3% A/AB (n=27 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.38 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=12 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.60 GPA, 76.2% A/AB (n=42 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Assignments include weekly readings, one-page papers, and a long research paper. Workload varies from minimal attendance to mandatory participation and strict deadlines under historical instructors like Claire Taylor.
Students in historical reviews praise instructors like Mou Banerjee and Cindy Cheng for offering advice and pushing them critically. Conversely, others report rude behavior, vague grading criteria, and mandatory attendance with harsh penalties.
Topics
Skills
Grades
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 3 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 · 0.14 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.
Selected offering source records
Historical Studies
Recorded 2026-09-07Introduction to History
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:448:009069",
"course_id": "HISTORY 200",
"course_uid": "course_9bb6d60733633321d297ed75",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "009069",
"source_subject_id": "448",
"title": "Historical Studies",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 4,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
},
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:448:009069.160",
"course_id": "HISTORY 200",
"course_uid": "course_9bb6d60733633321d297ed75",
"term_id": "1272",
"source_course_id": "009069.160",
"source_subject_id": "448",
"title": "Introduction to History",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 4,
"typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
}
]Rate My Professors
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Madgrades
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesModel outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
"model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
"task_version": "14",
"output_id": "6b55cdf427b318e682862818ff9729e50d064fa1f4eae55252b342712f23c3e3",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}