Fall 2026

Marriage and Family

Explores the sociology of the family through demographic, social-psychological, economic, and historical lenses.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Felix Elwert3.6/5Della TaoLingxi Zhang

Summary

1 / 7

Students report conflicting difficulty levels, ranging from easy to very hard. Workload includes significant reading, two major exams, and two short papers, with exams often described as brutal or ambiguous.

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
SOC 120

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.64/5 from 70 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.

For this course: 3.7/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 62 reviews

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

Felix Elwert is described as an engaging speaker who makes lectures essential for exam preparation, with content drawn directly from slides. Reviewers note his humor and clarity, though some find the material dense or the delivery occasionally boring.

Significant concerns exist regarding grading fairness, with reports of strict A-caps, nit-picky exams, and harsh paper grading. Some students found the workload heavy and the instructor disrespectful, contrasting sharply with earlier positive experiences.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2021: 2.92 GPA, 42.3% A/AB (n=274 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.22 GPA, 54.3% A/AB (n=151 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.21 GPA, 46.9% A/AB (n=177 letter grades).

No course-specific feedback yet.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Cameron MacDonald, Sarah Frank: Cameron MacDonald provided engaging lectures and fair exams, while Sarah Frank was an amazing lecturer who wanted students to succeed. Both instructors received high praise for their teaching quality and supportiveness.

BERT N ADAMS is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2009, Spring 2011, Fall 2012. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CAMERON MACDONALD is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2010. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CHRISTINE SCHWARTZ is recorded teaching in Spring 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

FELIX ELWERT is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GINA LONGO is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Spring 2016. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JILL RICHARDSON is recorded teaching in Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KATIE ZAMAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MIRIAM BARCUS is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SARAH FRANK 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction181 / 2001
DIS 301Classroom Instruction22 / 250
DIS 302Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction25 / 251
DIS 304Classroom Instruction22 / 250
DIS 305Classroom Instruction25 / 250
DIS 306Classroom Instruction23 / 250
DIS 307Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 308Classroom Instruction24 / 250

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

Felix Elwert's SOC 120 course elicits polarized reviews, with some praising his engaging lectures and manageable exams, while others criticize his disorganization, strict grading, and perceived disrespect.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.45 GPA, 70.3% A/AB (n=246 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.47 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=90 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.21 GPA, 46.9% A/AB (n=177 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Students report conflicting difficulty levels, ranging from easy to very hard. Workload includes significant reading, two major exams, and two short papers, with exams often described as brutal or ambiguous.

Lectures are cited as both interesting and boring. Grading is a major point of contention, with complaints about arbitrary curves, strict paper rules, and unfair treatment, contrasting with praise for his humor and care.

Topics

  • Union formation and dissolution
  • Childbearing and childrearing
  • Social stratification and the family
  • Intergenerational support
  • Social consequences of family behaviors

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · 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 5 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.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.35 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

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

1320 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
SOC 120 · Fall 2026

Marriage and Family

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": "1272:900:017527",
    "course_id": "SOC 120",
    "course_uid": "course_98ade9d46c01304a303c64be",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "017527",
    "source_subject_id": "900",
    "title": "Marriage and Family",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
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 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
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": "b411dd7fcb19904e1963ddfbca622cc125cea890de26e497142cb57f91645a42",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}