Spring 2027

Introduction to International Studies

Introduction to International Studies: An interdisciplinary examination of cultural, political, economic, and social patterns defining the modern world.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 5

Past student reviews · Katherine Jensen

The class required extensive reading, and students noted that completing the assigned material was essential for understanding the lectures and succeeding on exams.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ERICA SIMMONS is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2020, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KATHERINE JENSEN is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2023, Fall 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SARAH STEFANOS is recorded teaching in Spring 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SCOTT STRAUS is recorded teaching in Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

STEPHEN YOUNG is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2021, Fall 2022. 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 / 1200
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 310Classroom Instruction0 / 200

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

Past student reviews · Stephen Young, Katherine Jensen

Students described the course as interesting and engaging, noting that lectures were enjoyable to listen to and the material was manageable when keeping up with requirements.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.73 GPA, 89.6% A/AB (n=67 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.64 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=159 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 84.9% A/AB (n=86 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Katherine Jensen

The class required extensive reading, and students noted that completing the assigned material was essential for understanding the lectures and succeeding on exams.

Past student reviews · Erica Simmons

Some students found lecture pacing too fast to take notes effectively, while others found the delivery boring or unengaging, particularly when instructors read from scripts.

Topics

  • Cultural, political, economic, and social patterns of the modern world

Skills

  • Interdisciplinary analysis of cultural, political, economic, and social patterns in the modern world

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · 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 · 0.19 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

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.

Selected offering source records
INTLST 101 · Spring 2027

Introduction to International Studies

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": "1274:504:023197",
    "course_id": "INTLST 101",
    "course_uid": "course_d7c7b11c02ca11451bdfacdd",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "023197",
    "source_subject_id": "504",
    "title": "Introduction to International Studies",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
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 grades
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "88d34c8cd2d605a790a97e473e3612daafcc38d6f9a1b00eaed5ab6236e295fc",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}