Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.87 GPA, 93.3% A/AB (n=15 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.89 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=18 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.88 GPA, 93.8% A/AB (n=16 letter grades).
Fall 2026
Advanced Seminar in History
An advanced seminar focusing on the development of research skills and intensive writing through the analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Summary
1 / 5
Students must stay on top of a major final paper that spans the entire semester, with most homework consisting of watching movies during the first half.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapHISTORY 201 or HIST SCI 211
- take one
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
Professors
Fall 2026Recent recorded grades — Fall 2017: 3.21 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Fall 2019: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=12 letter grades).
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.86 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.75 GPA, 92.9% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=13 letter grades).
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.64 GPA, 92.9% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.83 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.65 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades).
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.80 GPA, 86.7% A/AB (n=15 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.55 GPA, 71.9% A/AB (n=32 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.38 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=16 letter grades).
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2013: 3.70 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2017: 3.83 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Fall 2020: 3.62 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=12 letter grades).
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Fall 2025: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=13 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).
Elizabeth Lapina's Medieval History in Film course functions more like a film class than a history course, with most homework consisting of watching movies during the first half of the semester. Reviewers note the course is interesting for those who like the topic, but require students to stay on top of a big final paper that spans the entire semester.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.83 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.96 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.75 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=12 letter grades).
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Historical reviews for Francine Hirsch describe her as accessible and helpful, making the class fun while discussing Totalitarianism. The reviewer notes that the reading load was heavy but manageable for a History seminar. Hirsch is credited with making students feel valued and cared for as individuals.
ALFRED W. MCCOY is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
BRANDON BLOCH is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
ELIZABETH LAPINA is recorded teaching in Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
FRANCINE HIRSCH is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2014, Spring 2016, Fall 2020, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JAMES SWEET is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2012, Fall 2016, Fall 2018, Fall 2021, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JOHN HALL is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2013, Spring 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
JUDD KINZLEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Spring 2017, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
KARL B SHOEMAKER is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2010, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
PATRICK IBER is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2019. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEM 002 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 18 | 0 |
| SEM 008 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 18 | 0 |
| SEM 001 | Classroom Instruction | 18 / 18 | 0 |
| SEM 005 | Classroom Instruction | 9 / 18 | 0 |
| SEM 006 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 18 | 0 |
| SEM 007 | Classroom Instruction | 18 / 18 | 0 |
| SEM 010 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 18 | 0 |
| SEM 011 | Classroom Instruction | 2 / 18 | 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
Elizabeth Lapina's Medieval History in Film course functions more like a film class than a history course, offering an interesting experience for those who enjoy the topic.
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.82 GPA, 94.3% A/AB (n=123 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.84 GPA, 93.1% A/AB (n=102 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.91 GPA, 96.3% A/AB (n=107 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Students must stay on top of a major final paper that spans the entire semester, with most homework consisting of watching movies during the first half.
The course is considered interesting for students who like the topic, though the heavy reliance on film viewing and a single large paper defines the workload.
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 5 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 · 0.05 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
Advanced Seminar in History
Recorded 2026-09-07Middle Ages in Film
Recorded 2026-09-07Baseball & Society Since WWII
Recorded 2026-09-07Wisconsin and China
Recorded 2026-09-07Gen, War Crim, & Hum Rts - 20C
Recorded 2026-09-07American Military History
Recorded 2026-09-07Citizens & Others in N.America
Recorded 2026-09-07Nature & Development: Americas
Recorded 2026-09-07Land Tenure Center
Recorded 2026-09-07Law & the Sacred
Recorded 2026-09-07CIA Covert Wars&US Foreign Pol
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
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]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
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}