Fall 2026

The First Amendment

POLISCI 470 examines First Amendment principles, cases, and literature, focusing on historical and contemporary controversies.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Craig Fischer3.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

The course features heavy reading expectations and three major papers that require significant preparation. While some find the legal writing challenging, Fischer provides advice and availability to support student success.

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing and (POLI SCI 104, 184, or LEGAL ST/​POLI SCI 217)

POLISCI 470

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

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

Raw average: 4.00/5 from 11 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.

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

Craig Fischer is praised for making complex constitutional law and court cases accessible and engaging through enthusiastic lectures. Reviewers highlight his helpfulness, availability for assignment questions, and ability to summarize difficult SCOTUS cases effectively.

Some students criticize Fischer for unclear assignment instructions and vague grading criteria, noting that clarification often requires office hours. Others find his high energy and jumping around confusing or overwhelming, stating he struggles to explain material clearly.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.61 GPA, 78.6% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.48 GPA, 76.1% A/AB (n=46 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.76 GPA, 91.3% A/AB (n=46 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Howard Schweber: Howard Schweber is described as entertaining, personable, and highly knowledgeable, though his lectures can be fast-paced and difficult to follow without recording. Some students find his approach challenging or dismissive of dissent, while others praise his engaging style and the relevance of his constitutional law instruction.

BRENDON WESTLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2018. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CRAIG FISCHER is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DONALD ALEXANDER DOWNS is recorded teaching in Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

HOWARD SCHWEBER is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Spring 2019, Fall 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROBERT BURTON is recorded teaching in Fall 2020. 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 Instruction62 / 650

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

Craig Fischer is praised by some reviewers for making complex constitutional law concepts accessible and engaging. These students highlight his passion, helpfulness, and ability to summarize difficult SCOTUS cases effectively.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.61 GPA, 78.6% A/AB (n=28 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.48 GPA, 76.1% A/AB (n=46 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.76 GPA, 91.3% A/AB (n=46 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course features heavy reading expectations and three major papers that require significant preparation. While some find the legal writing challenging, Fischer provides advice and availability to support student success.

Some students report confusion due to vague assignment instructions and unclear grading criteria. These reviewers criticize Fischer's lecturing style as overwhelming or ineffective, noting that clarification requests often yielded little help.

Topics

  • First Amendment cases and literature
  • Historical and contemporary controversies

Skills

  • Analysis of First Amendment principles and assumptions.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
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Grades over time

Through Spring 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 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

1289 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 470 · Fall 2026

The First Amendment

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": "1272:778:015954",
    "course_id": "POLISCI 470",
    "course_uid": "course_e7b4fd0e5787ff4ba6a21cc2",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "015954",
    "source_subject_id": "778",
    "title": "The First Amendment",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
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": "037aae3f42434a08c18681494bff5f07ac4c9015523eb961792d1316086deda2",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}