Spring 2027

Genetics of Human History

Explores how genetic differences reveal human evolutionary and demographic history, and how history shapes genetic diversity. Covers disease risks, ancestry kits, and limits of genomics for describing race.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Aaron Ragsdale3.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Aaron Ragsdale

One student described the assignments as little, suggesting a manageable workload for the course.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Read different types of sources covering current scientific topics

  • Learn the vocabulary and concepts needed to read and discuss advances in genomics research, human evolution, and the genetics of diversity

  • Read and discuss material where the scientific consensus is unclear, uncertain, or controversial

  • Synthesize scientific information as an evolving understanding of complex topics shaped both by new scientific discoveries and broader society

  • Explain the science behind our understanding of human genetics

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

Prerequisites

Course map

(ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101 and 102),ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 152, or BIOCORE 381

ZOOLOGY 415 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.25/5 from 8 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.5/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

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

Past student reviews · Aaron Ragsdale

Aaron Ragsdale organized material well and made readings interesting and relevant. He was easy to reach during lectures and office hours, and students described the assignments as small. One student noted grading took longer than normal, attributing that delay to the TA rather than the professor.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.83 GPA, 93.8% A/AB (n=32 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.86 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=72 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.77 GPA, 88.8% A/AB (n=80 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

AARON RAGSDALE is recorded teaching in Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. 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 001Classroom Instruction0 / 900

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

Past student reviews · Aaron Ragsdale

Aaron Ragsdale taught the course with well-organized material and interesting readings. He was easy to reach during lecture and office hours, and students highly recommended the class.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.83 GPA, 93.8% A/AB (n=32 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.86 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=72 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.77 GPA, 88.8% A/AB (n=80 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Aaron Ragsdale

One student described the assignments as little, suggesting a manageable workload for the course.

Past student reviews · Aaron Ragsdale

A student noted that grading took longer than normal, though they attributed this to the TA rather than the professor.

Topics

  • Genetics, disease risk, and direct-to-consumer genotyping.
  • Human diversity, race concepts, and diversity in genomics studies.

Skills

  • Reading and discussing advances in genomics research, human evolution, and the genetics of diversity.
  • Synthesizing scientific information regarding complex topics influenced by discoveries and society.
  • Explaining the science behind human genetics.

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

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.

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Selected offering source records
ZOOLOGY 415 · Spring 2027

Genetics of Human History

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:970:026414",
    "course_id": "ZOOLOGY 415",
    "course_uid": "course_5c3d6ae6485cc783c86672fc",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "026414",
    "source_subject_id": "970",
    "title": "Genetics of Human History",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
  }
]
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.

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": "2edfef843610df701980c446b30c4c460ff0f0042e24191f67f304dfdc6d309c",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}