Fall 2026

History of Ancient Philosophy

HISTORY OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY covers philosophers from the presocratics to the Stoics and Epicureans, with particular emphasis on Plato and Aristotle.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Paula Gottlieb3.7/5S. Riza Qadri

Summary

1 / 7

The grade is based on three tutorials, which one reviewer found easy enough to skip lectures. Another noted that achieving an A requires doing well, and syllabus dates are not provided.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Junior standing or 3 Credits in PHILOS

    • 3 Credits in PHILOS
    • Junior standing
    take one
PHILOS 430

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Any of
    • 3 Credits in PHILOS
    • Junior standing

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.70/5 from 27 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 · 2.8/5 difficulty · 4 reviews

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

Paula Gottlieb’s lectures are frequently described as boring or monotonous, with one student noting her voice puts them to sleep. Reviewers also criticize the lack of syllabus dates and a 'swing' grading strategy that some find unfair or confusing.

Conversely, one recent review praises Gottlieb as funny and passionate, finding her 'swing' grade system reasonable. This student highlights the tutorial system as a fun component involving papers and discussion, though they note the course lacks real-world applicability.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.73 GPA, 90.7% A/AB (n=54 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.69 GPA, 89.8% A/AB (n=59 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.76 GPA, 92.1% A/AB (n=38 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

PAULA GOTTLIEB is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2019, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, 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
LEC 001Classroom Instruction56 / 690
DIS 301Classroom Instruction17 / 230
DIS 302Classroom Instruction17 / 230
DIS 303Classroom Instruction22 / 230

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

Paula Gottlieb’s lectures are frequently described as boring, though she is also noted as passionate and funny. The course relies heavily on tutorials, with mixed opinions on the grading system and syllabus clarity.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.86 GPA, 93.9% A/AB (n=66 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.76 GPA, 92.1% A/AB (n=38 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.70 GPA, 88.5% A/AB (n=61 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The grade is based on three tutorials, which one reviewer found easy enough to skip lectures. Another noted that achieving an A requires doing well, and syllabus dates are not provided.

Students find the tutorial system fun due to paper discussions, but some dislike the 'swing' grade strategy and lack of attendance counting. The ancient philosophy content is viewed as underwhelming by one reviewer.

Topics

  • Presocratics, Stoics, and Epicureans
  • Plato and Aristotle

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.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.10 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
PHILOS 430 · Fall 2026

History of Ancient Philosophy

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": "1272:736:014697",
    "course_id": "PHILOS 430",
    "course_uid": "course_7a64c9e06bf089b093eb0116",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "014697",
    "source_subject_id": "736",
    "title": "History of Ancient Philosophy",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
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.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
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": "d0c90f414e4a3a12d21fcf1f2095626b94d9dcf7ca9c836c4d82a4797b752500",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}