Spring 2027

Intellectual Freedom

Examines intellectual freedom in the U.S., covering censorship, minors' rights, the Internet, privacy, and copyright through First Amendment theory and history.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Anuj Desai3.8/5

Summary

1 / 5

Past student reviews · Anuj Desai

The workload included hundreds of pages of reading weekly and a two-and-a-half-hour discussion section where participation constituted 40% of the grade.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing

  • Junior standing
LEGALST/LIS 645

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Junior standing

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.12/5 from 8 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: 3.0/5 raw quality · 3.5/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Anuj Desai

Anuj Desai assigned hundreds of pages of boring readings weekly for a two-and-a-half-hour discussion section where participation was 40% of the grade. The reviewer found the class unorganized, with Desai rambling on tangents and unclear term paper expectations.

Another student found the readings dry initially but engaging after the third week. They noted the class was heavily based on discussion and participation, describing Desai as an engaging, highly motivated professor with a passion for teaching law.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.69 GPA, 75.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.38 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.50 GPA, 78.9% A/AB (n=19 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ANUJ DESAI is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Fall 2017, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2023, Spring 2026. 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 / 250
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 250

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

Past student reviews · Anuj Desai

Students described the course as primarily discussion-based on weekly readings, with one finding the professor engaging and passionate about the law.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.69 GPA, 75.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.38 GPA, 84.6% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.50 GPA, 78.9% A/AB (n=19 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Anuj Desai

The workload included hundreds of pages of reading weekly and a two-and-a-half-hour discussion section where participation constituted 40% of the grade.

Past student reviews · Anuj Desai

Opinions diverged on the experience; one student found the class unorganized with unclear term paper expectations, while another noted the readings became more engaging after the third week.

Topics

  • Censorship, minors' rights, the Internet, privacy, and copyright.
  • Theoretical questions related to the First Amendment and historical developments.

Skills

  • Examine theoretical questions related to the First Amendment and historical developments concerning intellectual freedom.
  • Analyze issues of censorship, minors' rights, the Internet, privacy, and copyright.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
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D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

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
LEGALST/LIS 645 · Spring 2027

Intellectual Freedom

Recorded 2026-10-29
LEGALST/LIS 645 · Spring 2027

Intellectual Freedom

Recorded 2026-10-29
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:535:011197",
    "course_id": "LEGALST/LIS 645",
    "course_uid": "course_2058f772e7eaae5190a64c44",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "011197",
    "source_subject_id": "535",
    "title": "Intellectual Freedom",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Occasionally"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261029T213040-0fa85c20",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:544:011197",
    "course_id": "LEGALST/LIS 645",
    "course_uid": "course_2058f772e7eaae5190a64c44",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "011197",
    "source_subject_id": "544",
    "title": "Intellectual Freedom",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Occasionally"
  }
]
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 2026-10-29

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "2863f2e3e3789fcc568c2649e2d71ad25beabb64883036b7005fb3f42524e94b",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "c9cd06eaa45f9ddf7e69faa38b89ff3d3dd995dd",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-29 21:30:40.248904+00:00"
}