Spring 2027

Science, Media and Society

Science, Media and Society introduces communication at the intersection of science, politics, and society, covering theoretical foundations and global debates on emerging technologies.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 7

Past student reviews · Dietram Scheufele

The course included no quizzes, one midterm, a final, and five short essay responses of approximately 200 words for homework.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify the key elements of (in)effective science communication in popular media across different counties and cultures

  • Evaluate how the communication processes work among different stakeholders. Stakeholders include players in the policy arena, scientists, journalists, and lay publics

  • Critically assess the cultural, political, and economic impacts on how science and technology are debated across the globe

  • Understand origins of cross-country differences in consumer reactions and policy responses to emerging science

  • Analyze and compare the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of science across different countries and cultures

  • Critically evaluate country-specific or culture-specific social factors that shape the science-public interface

  • Explain the practical implications for different aspects of science and technology, like science journalism, new (information) technology, political aspects of emerging technologies, science literacy, etc.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

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Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
LSC 251 used by

“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

DIETRAM SCHEUFELE is recorded teaching in Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JULIANNE RENNER is recorded teaching in Fall 2023. 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

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Dietram Scheufele

One student recommended taking the course in person because they found the in-class discussions to be a significant part of the learning experience.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.24 GPA, 64.0% A/AB (n=267 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.34 GPA, 71.8% A/AB (n=245 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.60 GPA, 80.4% A/AB (n=245 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Dietram Scheufele

The course included no quizzes, one midterm, a final, and five short essay responses of approximately 200 words for homework.

Past student reviews · Dietram Scheufele

A student noted that the instructor was willing to meet outside of class and helped them secure an internship.

Topics

  • Theoretical foundations of science communication.
  • Societal debates about science and emerging technologies globally.
  • Cross-country differences in consumer reactions and policy responses to emerging science.

Skills

  • Identify key elements of effective science communication in popular media across different countries and cultures.
  • Evaluate communication processes among stakeholders including policy players, scientists, journalists, and lay publics.
  • Analyze and compare the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of science across different countries and cultures.

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 4 recent 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.

5 earlier forecasts · 0.08 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 · 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

1316 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

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
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

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

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "06e9ea8d0acf1411b1157ecf6f5b959c026eb0143fbfc6d3da95cc5b3ffd1474",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}