Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 84.9% A/AB (n=86 letter grades).
Fall 2026
Introduction to International Studies
INTLST 101 introduces international studies through an interdisciplinary examination of cultural, political, economic, and social patterns defining the modern world.
Summary
1 / 7
Historical reviews of Erica Simmons, Katherine Jensen, Scott Straus: The course requires substantial reading and active participation. Workload includes tests, a final paper, or essays, with some instructors moving quickly through material.
Grade history
↗ average GPA
letter grades
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F
All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapNone
“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
Fall 2026No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
No course-specific feedback yet.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Lisa Bhungalia is the current instructor, but no reviews exist for her yet. Historical reviews highlight varied experiences with past instructors like Stephen Young, who was praised for passion, and Erica Simmons, who faced criticism for fast lectures and work-intensive assignments.
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.
LISA BHUNGALIA is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. 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
Fall 2026Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | Classroom Instruction | 227 / 240 | 0 |
| DIS 302 | Classroom Instruction | 16 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 304 | Classroom Instruction | 20 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 305 | Classroom Instruction | 18 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 301 | Classroom Instruction | 20 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 303 | Classroom Instruction | 20 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 306 | Classroom Instruction | 18 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 307 | Classroom Instruction | 17 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 308 | Classroom Instruction | 20 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 309 | Classroom Instruction | 19 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 310 | Classroom Instruction | 20 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 311 | Classroom Instruction | 19 / 20 | 0 |
| DIS 312 | Classroom Instruction | 20 / 20 | 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 of Sarah Stefanos, Scott Straus, Stephen Young: Students describe the course as engaging and recommend it for sparking interest in international studies. They praise passionate instructors who make lectures enjoyable and informative.
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
Historical reviews of Erica Simmons, Katherine Jensen, Scott Straus: The course requires substantial reading and active participation. Workload includes tests, a final paper, or essays, with some instructors moving quickly through material.
Historical reviews of Erica Simmons, Katherine Jensen, Scott Straus: Students report frustration with fast-paced lectures and unclear explanations. Conversely, others appreciate straightforward exams and knowledgeable instructors, though some find the content boring.
Topics
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 · 0.14 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
Introduction to International Studies
Recorded 2026-09-07Raw records
[
{
"run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
"semester": "1272",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"offering_id": "1272:504:023197",
"course_id": "INTLST 101",
"course_uid": "course_d7c7b11c02ca11451bdfacdd",
"term_id": "1272",
"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 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": "a899da504aedf75c9d4e7fa6df5c5e095546fdb4ac53b94eeb2f6455c45ce575",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}