Spring 2027

Introduction to International Relations

Introduction to International Relations covers post-WWII issues including war, trade, finance, globalization, and international organizations, developing analytical tools for world politics.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Andrew Kydd3.4/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Andrew Kydd

There was no homework, and exams were noted to be much easier than AP exams, requiring only that students complete readings and attend lectures.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Understand major historical and contemporary events in world politics.

  • Analyze current world events through the lens of the major theories of international relations.

  • Know how different approaches to the question of economic development emphasize different policy solutions.

  • Understand the analytical theories explaining the expansion of trade and globalization.

  • Understand and be able to analyze the controversies surrounding the major international financial institutions, specifically the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

  • Understand the operation of the global exchange rate system and how state choices concerning monetary policy impact international financial flows.

  • Understand the ways in which globalization both empowers and limits state leaders to conduct foreign economic policy.

Source: UW Guide

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

None

  • None
POLISCI 140 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
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.26/5 from 43 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.0/5 difficulty · 1 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Andrew Kydd

Andrew Kydd described the course as fairly standard, noting that lectures were interesting with amusing parentheticals. Quizzes were simple, there was no homework, and exams were easier than AP exams. The student found the course manageable by doing readings and paying attention in class.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2020: 3.50 GPA, 78.0% A/AB (n=159 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.49 GPA, 71.2% A/AB (n=146 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Mark Copelovitch, Jon Pevehouse

Past students found Mark Copelovitch’s lectures engaging and his exams fair if they completed readings and attended discussion. Jon Pevehouse’s sections required three short quizzes and two news analyses, with attendance often mandatory. Students described Pevehouse as funny and accessible, noting that his TAs were helpful. Copelovitch’s course involved long weekly readings and participation in grading, while Pevehouse’s workload was generally perceived as manageable.

ANDREW KYDD is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JON PEVEHOUSE is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARK COPELOVITCH is recorded teaching in Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 2520
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 305Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 307Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 310Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 308Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 309Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 532Classroom Instruction0 / 00
DIS 311Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 312Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 313Classroom Instruction0 / 210
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 210

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 · Andrew Kydd

The course was described as fairly standard, featuring interesting lectures and simple quizzes, with a reviewer noting that it was not difficult.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.49 GPA, 73.8% A/AB (n=225 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.69 GPA, 85.9% A/AB (n=347 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.43 GPA, 70.4% A/AB (n=226 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Andrew Kydd

There was no homework, and exams were noted to be much easier than AP exams, requiring only that students complete readings and attend lectures.

Past student reviews · Andrew Kydd

The reviewer found the lectures interesting with amusing parentheticals and felt the course was not difficult, though they noted other students found it challenging.

Topics

  • Causes of war, civil wars, and ethnic conflict
  • Economic development, trade, monetary relations, capital flows, and FDI
  • Globalization, environment, international organizations (UN, IMF, WB, WTO), and law/human rights

Skills

  • Analyze current world events using major international relations theories.
  • Evaluate different approaches to economic development and their policy solutions.
  • Understand analytical theories explaining trade expansion and globalization.
  • Understand global exchange rate systems and monetary policy impacts on financial flows.

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 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.

7 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 · 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

1280 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
POLISCI 140 · Spring 2027

Introduction to International Relations

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:778:015889",
    "course_id": "POLISCI 140",
    "course_uid": "course_06dafc75d411dce45dc57976",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015889",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "Introduction to International Relations",
    "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.

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
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "aca1738bd514af60710a0bbe6e6e4e81170dd2da2e78e1e96ab03de25f0bf0eb",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}