African Politics
Explores rapid political change and the emergence of new states in contemporary Africa, emphasizing complex social, economic, and political issues.
Summary
Past student reviews · Aili Tripp
Past students reported light assignments and six easy quizzes where one score could be dropped, alongside a 10-12 page research paper due before Thanksgiving.
What you’ll be able to do
Examine the complex social, economic and political issues and problems confronting contemporary Africa.
Critically examine previously held beliefs about the way Africa works and become critical consumers of news coverage of Africa.
Explain the process of rapid political change in contemporary Africa and the emergence of new states.
Assess the state of a body of scholarly literature related to course themes, identify gaps in that literature, and formulate an original research question in the context of those gaps.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapSophomore standing and POLI SCI 120, 182, or SOC/AFRICAN/AFROAMER/ANTHRO/GEOG/HISTORY/POLI SCI 277
- Sophomore standing
- take one
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- All of
- Sophomore standing
- Any of
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
AILI MARI TRIPP is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Spring 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, 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
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Aili Tripp
Students found Professor Tripp accessible and supportive, noting that while grading could be slow, she went out of her way to help them succeed.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.65 GPA, 86.7% A/AB (n=30 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.81 GPA, 94.4% A/AB (n=36 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.85 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Aili Tripp
Past students reported light assignments and six easy quizzes where one score could be dropped, alongside a 10-12 page research paper due before Thanksgiving.
Past student reviews · Aili Tripp
One student found the lectures boring and disjointed, noting that mandatory attendance was required and they did not see their grades until after the final exam.
Topics
- Rapid political change and emergence of new states in contemporary Africa.
- Complex social, economic, and political issues in contemporary Africa.
- Critical examination of beliefs about Africa and news coverage.
Skills
- Examine complex social, economic, and political issues in contemporary Africa.
- Critically evaluate beliefs about Africa and consume news coverage critically.
- Explain processes of rapid political change and state emergence in Africa.
- Assess scholarly literature, identify gaps, and formulate original research questions.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
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.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"requirements_status": "needs_review",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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