Spring 2027

States in the World: Comparative Foreign Policy

Explores how states make foreign policy decisions and what influences their international behavior on security, economic, and humanitarian questions using social science theory.

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

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Jessica Weeks

The workload involved long readings due twice a week and assignments nearly every week. Students reported high expectations and significant participation requirements.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Analyze the influence of domestic factors on the formulation and execution of foreign policy in different countries.

  • Compare and contrast the foreign policies of multiple countries, identifying commonalities, differences, and trends.

  • Apply key theories and concepts to analyze and predict the behavior of states in the international system.

  • Conduct independent research on a specific foreign policy issue and/or country, utilizing relevant academic literature and primary sources.

  • Effectively communicate insights into comparative foreign policy through written assignments, presentations, and class discussions.

  • Engage in constructive debates and discussions on global affairs, drawing on the knowledge gained in the course.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
POLISCI 358

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JESSICA WEEKS is recorded teaching in 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

Spring 2027

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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 · Jessica Weeks

Students described a reading-centric course where lectures focused on assigned texts. One student found the simulation component a good addition, while another noted that active participation was key to success.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.65 GPA, 88.2% A/AB (n=51 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.66 GPA, 88.6% A/AB (n=35 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Jessica Weeks

The workload involved long readings due twice a week and assignments nearly every week. Students reported high expectations and significant participation requirements.

Past student reviews · Jessica Weeks

Opinions on grading varied; some students found criteria unclear and grading harsh, while others noted that the professor and TA provided decent feedback on assignments.

Topics

  • Factors influencing state international behavior on security, economic, and humanitarian questions.
  • Comparative analysis of foreign policies across different states and countries.
  • Evaluation of theories and evidence explaining state behavior in the international system.
  • Influence of domestic factors on foreign policy formulation and execution.

Skills

  • Analyze foreign policy using social science methods and evaluate how domestic factors shape formulation and execution.
  • Apply key theories and concepts to analyze and predict state behavior in the international system.
  • Compare and contrast foreign policies of multiple countries to identify commonalities, differences, and trends.
  • Conduct independent research on foreign policy issues or countries using academic literature and primary sources.
  • Communicate insights into comparative foreign policy through written work, presentations, and discussion.

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

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 
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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 2026-10-14

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": "8fafd43a036778cf503c581a50ab2fe91659a7a04a625f2f43b5fc0d31dcae24",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}