Historical instructor

JAMES LI

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.94/5 from 17 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

PSYCH 510
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor Li was one of my favorite psych teachers at UW Madison. The course requires effort, but as long as you do the readings and attend lecture it is manageable. He is very caring towards his students and is quick to respond to any questions. Learned a lot out of this class and was super interesting/engaging. Highly recommend!
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PSYCH 510
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor Li was OK, but I didn't care for his grade cutoffs. They were unnecessarily high and the coursework and tests were made harder than they needed to be. The overall vibe was not as pleasant as other classes.
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PSYCH 510
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Reading the reviews of Dr. Li I was a bit skeptical going into his class. However, despite being a bit fast, I found his lectures to be incredibly interesting. They introduced a lot of new topics but in a way that made them easy to understand and learn. I can see where people think tests are hard but Id you study appropriately youll be fine.
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PSYCH 601
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Li was a great lecturer and really helped me get a better understanding of behavioral genetics. All homework facilitates a better understanding of the material. One group project for a "completed vs no completed" grade. 2 oral pre… Read full reviewShow less
Li was a great lecturer and really helped me get a better understanding of behavioral genetics. All homework facilitates a better understanding of the material. One group project for a "completed vs no completed" grade. 2 oral presentations are required at the end of the semester, so if you don't like public speaking, I'd avoid this class.
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PSYCH 501
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Very cynical about the field. Bad aspect: Discourages career pursuit by relating his story of dropping out of med school. Good aspect: worthy psychological critiques. Tough tests, papers. Doesn't seem interested in you as much as his research. Lectures are fascinating. Learned a lot. Put more time in term paper than any paper in college, got a C.
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PSYCH 510
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
I loved this class with Professor Li! His lectures take textbook information and apply it to real life, questioning how things are and how they can be better. Exams are tough but lecture and discussions give you all the materials you need to do well (short answer is based on discussion activities). Not an easy A class but definitely worth taking.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with JAMES LI

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026PSYCH 601Current Topics in Psychology
Spring 2026PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2026PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2025PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2025PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2025PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2025PSYCH 740Clinical I: Assessment, Etiology, and Treatment
Spring 2025PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2024PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2024PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2024PSYCH 601Current Topics in Psychology
Spring 2024PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2024PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2023PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2023PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2023PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2023PSYCH 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2023PSYCH 740Clinical I: Assessment, Etiology, and Treatment
Spring 2023PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2022PSYCH 510Critical Issues in Child Psychopathology
Fall 2022PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2022PSYCH 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2022PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2022PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2022PSYCH 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2022PSYCH 692Undergraduate Thesis
Fall 2021PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2021PSYCH 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2021PSYCH 691Undergraduate Thesis
Fall 2021PSYCH 990Research
Fall 2020PSYCH 510Critical Issues in Child Psychopathology
Fall 2020PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2020PSYCH 601Current Topics in Psychology
Spring 2020PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2020PSYCH 740Clinical I: Assessment, Etiology, and Treatment
Fall 2019PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2019PSYCH 990Research
Spring 2019PSYCH 601Current Topics in Psychology
Spring 2019PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2018PSYCH 510Critical Issues in Child Psychopathology
Fall 2018PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2018PSYCH 601Current Topics in Psychology
Spring 2018PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2018PSYCH 740Clinical I: Assessment, Etiology, and Treatment
Fall 2017PSYCH 501Depth Topic in Social Science
Fall 2017PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2017PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2016PSYCH 501Depth Topic in Social Science
Fall 2016PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Fall 2016PSYCH 699Directed Study
Spring 2016PSYCH 621Mentored Research and Seminar
Spring 2016PSYCH 740Clinical I: Assessment, Etiology, and Treatment
Fall 2015PSYCH 501Depth Topic in Social Science

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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