Fall 2026

Introduction to the Middle East

INTLST 266 provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the Middle East, covering its cultures, geography, history, politics, and economies with an emphasis on Islam and Muslim peoples.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 5

Historical reviews of Samuel England: The course requires significant reading and preparation for weekly mini-quizzes, two exams, and major research projects. Students report that exams can be difficult, particularly for those without prior background knowledge, and require independent study.

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
INTLST 266

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Fall 2026

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Samuel England: Samuel England receives polarized reviews regarding organization and clarity. Some students find his lectures unstructured and exams unfair, while others praise his passion and accessibility. He is described as both engaging and difficult to follow, with significant disagreement on course structure.

SAMUEL ENGLAND is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2025, 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

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

Historical reviews of Samuel England: Samuel England is a passionate and engaging lecturer who fosters a personable environment for students who enjoy reading-heavy coursework. He is highly knowledgeable and offers significant freedom in research projects.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.62 GPA, 76.5% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.42 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=18 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.50 GPA, 67.7% A/AB (n=31 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Samuel England: The course requires significant reading and preparation for weekly mini-quizzes, two exams, and major research projects. Students report that exams can be difficult, particularly for those without prior background knowledge, and require independent study.

Historical reviews of Samuel England: Reviews disagree on England's accessibility and organization. Some find him accessible and receptive to feedback, while others describe him as hard to contact and not receptive to suggestions. Some find his lectures unstructured and his Canvas messy.

Topics

  • Middle East cultures, geography, history, and politics
  • Islam and Muslim peoples

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
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": "404423c65956af32c80495dd0598fc45f85be353557cd7fa21c67d423b2a2ea6",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}