Spring 2027

Topics in Public Affairs

Topics in Public Affairs examines current issues in the formulation, implementation, and analysis of public policy.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Denia Garcia3.8/5Mariel Barnes3.8/5

Summary

1 / 2

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.61 GPA, 82.6% A/AB (n=23 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 88.9% A/AB (n=18 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.86 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=11 letter grades).

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Graduate/professional standing

  • Graduate/professional standing
PUBAFFR 974

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Graduate/professional standing

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.10/5 from 10 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.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 3.83 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.55 GPA, 72.7% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.86 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=11 letter grades).

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.67/5 from 3 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.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.90 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2023: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.67 GPA, 91.7% A/AB (n=12 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

DENIA GARCIA is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARIEL BARNES is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 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

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
SEM 001Classroom Instruction0 / 250
SEM 002Classroom Instruction0 / 300
SEM 005Classroom Instruction0 / 200

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

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.61 GPA, 82.6% A/AB (n=23 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.89 GPA, 88.9% A/AB (n=18 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.86 GPA, 90.9% A/AB (n=11 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Current issues in public policy
  • Public policy formulation, implementation, and analysis

Skills

  • Formulation, implementation, and analysis of public policy

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— 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 Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

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
PUBAFFR 974 · Spring 2027

Topics in Public Affairs

Recorded 2026-10-14
PUBAFFR 974 · Spring 2027

Topic:Foundations in Pub Pol

Recorded 2026-10-14
PUBAFFR 974 · Spring 2027

Health and Health Policy

Recorded 2026-10-14
PUBAFFR 974 · Spring 2027

International Program Eval

Recorded 2026-10-14
PUBAFFR 974 · Spring 2027

Nonprof Leadership Management

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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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
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
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  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "f3626f7e008c974b224708b00d026fe5bbf9e1248fa60b0df69549792e82fb0f",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
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}