Spring 2027

Topics in Political Science

Topics in Political Science is an umbrella course for variable credit topic offerings like summer forums and intensive or half-semester courses.

offering recorded1–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Ana Oaxaca CarrascoAriel ReichardRebecca Ploof

Summary

1 / 5

Past student reviews · Andrew Trexler

One student reported that coursework was manageable if they attended lectures and paid attention, and noted that the reading was optional and not tested.

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
POLISCI 400

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Spring 2027
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ANA OAXACA CARRASCO is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ANDREW TREXLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JONATHAN SCHWARTZ is recorded teaching in Fall 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KATHERINE CRAMER is recorded teaching in Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

RICKY CVEYKUS is recorded teaching in Spring 2019. 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 002Classroom Instruction0 / 600
LEC 003Classroom Instruction0 / 500
LEC 006Classroom Instruction0 / 510
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 170
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 170
DIS 304Classroom Instruction0 / 170
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 500

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Katherine Cramer

Students described the course as discussion-focused, noting that this format helped them get to know classmates and increased the depth of the material.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.63 GPA, 83.8% A/AB (n=210 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.72 GPA, 86.6% A/AB (n=164 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.62 GPA, 80.0% A/AB (n=210 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Andrew Trexler

One student reported that coursework was manageable if they attended lectures and paid attention, and noted that the reading was optional and not tested.

Past student reviews · Katherine Cramer

A former student found Professor Cramer to be an incredible instructor whose seminars were well-run, and noted that she was genuinely accessible when needed.

Topics

  • Political science topics
  • Variable credit topic courses including summer forums and intensive formats

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 3 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 · 0.13 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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
POLISCI 400 · Spring 2027

Topics in Political Science

Recorded 2026-10-14
POLISCI 400 · Spring 2027

HBOs Wire & Politics in Urb Am

Recorded 2026-10-14
POLISCI 400 · Spring 2027

Modern Political Thought

Recorded 2026-10-14
POLISCI 400 · Spring 2027

Intl Humanitarian law Mid East

Recorded 2026-10-14
POLISCI 400 · Spring 2027

Media and Politics

Recorded 2026-10-14
POLISCI 400 · Spring 2027

Ancient Political Thought

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
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    "offering_id": "1274:778:015917",
    "course_id": "POLISCI 400",
    "course_uid": "course_72b1ebead6ff5d756edddb78",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015917",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "Topics in Political Science",
    "credits_min": 1,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
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    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
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    "offering_id": "1274:778:015917.75",
    "course_id": "POLISCI 400",
    "course_uid": "course_72b1ebead6ff5d756edddb78",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015917.75",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "HBOs Wire & Politics in Urb Am",
    "credits_min": 1,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
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    "offering_id": "1274:778:015917.76",
    "course_id": "POLISCI 400",
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    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015917.76",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "Modern Political Thought",
    "credits_min": 1,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
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    "course_id": "POLISCI 400",
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    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015917.77",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "Intl Humanitarian law Mid East",
    "credits_min": 1,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
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    "offering_id": "1274:778:015917.78",
    "course_id": "POLISCI 400",
    "course_uid": "course_72b1ebead6ff5d756edddb78",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015917.78",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "Media and Politics",
    "credits_min": 1,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:778:015917.79",
    "course_id": "POLISCI 400",
    "course_uid": "course_72b1ebead6ff5d756edddb78",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "015917.79",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "Ancient Political Thought",
    "credits_min": 1,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
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 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "d81f4d795703b223be1a5f5ed59d916573f94fb5e6485c7d388d0f5680a68623",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}