Fall 2026

Western Culture: Literature and the Arts I

ILS 203 explores the development of literature and the arts in the ancient and medieval world, examining works from Egypt, Troy, Athens, Rome, and Florence within their societal and intellectual contexts.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 William Aylward4.3/5Owen CampbellRachel Andrews

Summary

1 / 7

The course involves substantial reading, though reviewers describe the texts as accessible. Success relies on completing the assigned books and attending discussion sections, which help clarify material for exams.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
ILS 203

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026

William Aylward

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.42/5 from 178 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.

For this course: 4.4/5 raw quality · 2.2/5 difficulty · 50 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

William Aylward is described as passionate and engaging, though some reviewers find his speaking style difficult to follow or his lectures disorganized. While many students find the course manageable through reading, others report that exams cover excessive material or include untaught content. Recent reviews generally recommend the class, contrasting with earlier criticisms of organization.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.58 GPA, 77.4% A/AB (n=186 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.69 GPA, 87.1% A/AB (n=210 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.64 GPA, 79.0% A/AB (n=119 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Patricia Rosenmeyer describe her as engaging and supportive, noting she provides study guides and clarifies readings without requiring attendance. Conversely, Nandini Pandey's reviews mention tough exams and heavy reading loads, though she adapted to online teaching by removing a textbook and midterm while adding check-ins and group projects.

NANDINI PANDEY is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Fall 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PATRICIA ROSENMEYER is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2013, Fall 2015. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

WILLIAM AYLWARD is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2014, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. 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 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction150 / 1600
DIS 302Classroom Instruction13 / 200
DIS 304Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 306Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 307Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 308Classroom Instruction5 / 200
DIS 309Classroom Instruction17 / 180
DIS 333Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 301Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 305Classroom Instruction19 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction18 / 200

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

William Aylward is described as passionate and engaging, with students finding his lectures interesting and helpful. Reviewers note that the class is enjoyable and recommend it, provided students keep up with the reading.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.58 GPA, 77.4% A/AB (n=186 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.69 GPA, 87.1% A/AB (n=210 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.64 GPA, 79.0% A/AB (n=119 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course involves substantial reading, though reviewers describe the texts as accessible. Success relies on completing the assigned books and attending discussion sections, which help clarify material for exams.

Some students found Aylward's lecture style unorganized and difficult to follow due to frequent pauses. These reviewers noted that canceled lectures and unclear explanations made tests feel unpredictable.

Topics

  • Ancient and medieval literature and art from Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Italy
  • Societal and intellectual contexts of artistic and literary production

Grades

Historical instructor

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 · 0.11 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 · Fall 2025 · 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

1320 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
ILS 203 · Fall 2026

Western Culture: Literature and the Arts I

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:500:010478",
    "course_id": "ILS 203",
    "course_uid": "course_ad05521dfc37ff63979d36a0",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "010478",
    "source_subject_id": "500",
    "title": "Western Culture: Literature and the Arts I",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
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 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "fc75fba08686e067bc29f2928f1b2105a64bbf41ece84795a8fb57b64f2a9d07",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}