French Revolution and Napoleon
Explores the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon, including revolutionary politics, the abolition of slavery in French colonies, and transnational movements across Europe, the US, and the Atlantic world.
Summary
Past student reviews · Suzanne Desan
Students reported having to work in class, but felt the effort was well worth it.
What you’ll be able to do
Explain the significance of the French Revolution, including its Napoleonic aftermath, as a political, social, and cultural event.
Describe major actors and events in the Revolution, from the 1780s to 1815, and recognize both the structural and contingent forces that shaped its course.
Assess the historical relationship between the French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution, recognizing key points of connection in the unfolding of these two events.
Analyze historical evidence in the form of primary source documents from the French Revolutionary moment and the Napoleonic era.
Analyze critically scholarly sources about the French Revolution and Napoleon in their domestic, imperial, and global dimensions, recognizing authors' arguments and evaluating the type and quality of evidence that they employ.
Construct your own written historical arguments about the revolutionary era by drawing critically upon multiple sources.
Interpret and evaluate scholarly debates about the French Revolution, especially contestation over the reasons that it began, the reasons that it subsequently radicalized, and the racial and gendered dimensions of the revolutionary project.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing
- Sophomore standing
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Sophomore standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
SUZANNE DESAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Spring 2012, Fall 2014. 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 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
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Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
No records available.
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Suzanne Desan
Suzanne Desan’s enthusiasm for the material was contagious, making the class engaging and fun despite the effort required.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2012: 2.79 GPA, 23.8% A/AB (n=63 letter grades); Fall 2014: 3.08 GPA, 42.1% A/AB (n=38 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.53 GPA, 79.3% A/AB (n=29 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Suzanne Desan
Students reported having to work in class, but felt the effort was well worth it.
Past student reviews · Suzanne Desan
The instructor was described as very funny, contributing to a positive and enthusiastic learning environment.
Topics
- Roots of discontent and revolutionary ideas
- Revolutionary politics and abolition of slavery
- Transnational revolutionary movements
- The Terror and Napoleon's Empire
- Relationship between French and Haitian Revolutions
Skills
- Analyzing primary source documents
- Critically analyzing scholarly sources
- Constructing written historical arguments
- Evaluating scholarly debates
Grades
Latest available · Spring 2024— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Spring 2024
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
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Selected offering source records
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Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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