Current instructor

Alfred Mccoy

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.19/5 from 58 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.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

HIST375 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Maybe the best Professor in the department is in the running for the school. Knows everything about what he teaches and then some. Will stop the lecture sometimes to talk about his personal interactions with important historical figures. Extremely dense lectures and lots of content that is sometimes hard to follow.
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HIST319 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Attend lecture and you will fall in love with it all. Legend.
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HIST375 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Best history class in the department
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HIST375 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Prof. McCoy is great and is a top-tier lecturer He has tons of interesting stories and he presents history in a uniquely dramatic way. Pretty funny too. Readings are pretty dense but are always on topic.
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HIST375 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof McCoy is extremely knowledgeable and keeps lectures engaging, but he doesn't use slides besides for pictures so lectures can be hard to follow (my TA made a lecture guide which was extremly helpful). One of the most rewarding yet difficult classes I have taken at UW. Would recomend for serious history majors.
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319 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor McCoy is an amazing lecturer, he really cares and understands about the content of the course. He tells stories about his time in Vietnam researching and other fun stories! A must take teacher even if you arent a history major!
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Alfred Mccoy

An advanced seminar where students apply research skills to a historical topic, producing a project with original analysis through intensive writing and discussion.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.86 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=11 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.75 GPA, 92.9% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Spring 2026: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=13 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

The Senior Thesis course involves mentored independent research and writing on an original topic, requiring concurrent enrollment in HISTORY 690.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

No recorded grade history

Introductory seminar in modern Southeast Asian history; work mostly in English-language sources.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2017: 3.92 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=6 letter grades); Fall 2019: 3.90 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=10 letter grades); Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2025–Fall 2025 · limited sample

The Cold War from WWII to the end of the Soviet Empire, exploring geopolitics, ideology, and covert operations across five continents using diverse sources.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.71 GPA, 85.2% A/AB (n=61 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.87 GPA, 95.5% A/AB (n=67 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.93 GPA, 95.8% A/AB (n=120 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2027HISTORY 600Advanced Seminar in History
Spring 2027HISTORY 681Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 691Senior Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 699Directed Study
Spring 2027HISTORY 755Proseminar in Southeast Asian History
Spring 2027HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2027HISTORY 999Independent Work
Spring 2027HISTORY/INTLST 375The Cold War - From World War II to End of Soviet Empire
Fall 2026ASIAN/HISTORY 319The Vietnam Wars
Fall 2026HISTORY 600Advanced Seminar in History
Fall 2026HISTORY 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 698Directed Study
Fall 2026HISTORY 699Directed Study
Fall 2026HISTORY 755Proseminar in Southeast Asian History
Fall 2026HISTORY 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2026HISTORY 999Independent Work

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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