Fall 2026

Data and Algorithms: Ethics and Policy

LIS 461 introduces ethical, legal, and policy issues in analytics and algorithms, teaching students to critically analyze debates and apply moral reasoning to case studies.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 B. HutchinsDevansh SaxenaShreya Lakhera

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews of Alan Rubel, Clinton Castro: The course is typically graded on three short papers and in-class assignments, which reviewers describe as easy to manage. However, writing can be time-consuming for those new to philosophical analysis, and dense readings require careful attention to grasp the core arguments.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing. Not open to students with credit forL I S 462.

    • Sophomore standing
    • not eligible with
    take all
LIS 461

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • All of
    • Sophomore standing
    • Not eligible with

Professors

Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.88 GPA, 95.2% A/AB (n=289 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 98.4% A/AB (n=126 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.82 GPA, 95.9% A/AB (n=74 letter grades).

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.91 GPA, 98.1% A/AB (n=54 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.94 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.83 GPA, 93.6% A/AB (n=78 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Dane Gogoshin: Dane Gogoshin receives polarized reviews, with some praising her as caring, knowledgeable, and engaging in office hours, while others criticize her lectures as boring and her handling of course structure as dismissive. Reviewers disagree on whether her teaching style is thought-provoking or ineffective, though most agree the content is relevant and grading is fair.

ALAN RUBEL is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2021. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

B. HUTCHINS is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DANE LEIGH GOGOSHIN is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DEVANSH SAXENA is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 002Online Only76 / 7575
LEC 001Classroom Instruction194 / 200163

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

LIS 461 experiences vary by instructor. Historical reviews praise Alan Rubel’s accessibility and Clinton Castro’s engagement. Recent reviews for Dane Gogoshin are polarized, with some students citing poor feedback handling, while others highly recommend her.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.90 GPA, 97.2% A/AB (n=422 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 96.2% A/AB (n=500 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.79 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=320 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of Alan Rubel, Clinton Castro: The course is typically graded on three short papers and in-class assignments, which reviewers describe as easy to manage. However, writing can be time-consuming for those new to philosophical analysis, and dense readings require careful attention to grasp the core arguments.

Historical reviews of Clinton Castro, Dane Gogoshin: Students report that attending lectures is highly beneficial for understanding material, though some find them boring or mandatory attendance frustrating. Office hours are recommended for engaging with content, but some instructors have been criticized for ignoring student feedback on class structure.

Topics

  • Ethical, legal, and policy issues in analytics and algorithms
  • Major debates and controversies in data and algorithmic decision-making
  • Case study analysis and argument critique

Skills

  • Apply moral reasoning and legal concepts to assess case studies and critique arguments
  • Analyze major debates and controversies in analytics and big data contexts

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.

4 earlier forecasts · 0.09 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.

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Selected offering source records
LIS 461 · Fall 2026

Data and Algorithms: Ethics and Policy

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": "1272:544:025394",
    "course_id": "LIS 461",
    "course_uid": "course_e0809224294be28ec62cda00",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "025394",
    "source_subject_id": "544",
    "title": "Data and Algorithms: Ethics and Policy",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
  }
]
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

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.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "f13725a892c3b5cd3256b2cf984693c9065a9985cac8ab65009a0e8fd2389da3",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}