Historical instructor

JENNIFER NELSON

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.58/5 from 12 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

AH360 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 5/5
Professor Nelson is the best Professor I have had at UW Madison. She is extremely intelligent and her lectures are interesting. She cares about her students and makes her expectations very clear about what she expects of us. My guess is 90% of the class got an A, it really was not hard to do well in this class.
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ARTHIS103 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
I found this class very interesting and the workload wasn't bad. You have a lot of time to complete the bigger assignments (there are only a few) and you can easily get by skimming the readings or looking up summaries. Prof. Nelson's lectures are great and she is more than happy to discuss anything course-related with you, virtually or in-person.
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ARTHIS103 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
my least favorite class. nelson is really smart but doesn't know how to teach students. the class took up way too much time and effort for a 100-level, and it was a lot of reading. just a headache to sit through every time. TA was great and really helpful, and you'll prob get a good grade as long as you attend, but I don't recommend taking it.
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ARTHIS103 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 3/5
Not only where lectures boring but they had absolutely zero correlation with what we are doing for homework. Attendance in this class is absolutely ridiculous, 3 absences out of the 40 classes in a semester will lower your grade by 15%.
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ARTHIS103 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Nelson's lectures were always very interesting and by far the most engaging aspect of the class. Frustratingly, however, the actual papers assigned in this class were largely unrelated to the lectures and the grading criteria was incredibly vague. (also note that screens are banned from lectures and that attendance is mandatory & graded)
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ARTHIS103 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
She reminds me of a middle school teacher, I had to request my rights of privacy not be violated as she attempted to call me out in front of the class for an issue I had a disability accommodation too. Other than that no quizzes/tests, and basic homework. One real essay and one video pitch. Worth it if you can advocate for yourself.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with JENNIFER NELSON

ARTHIST 360 surveys Northern Renaissance art and visual culture in Europe from 1400 to 1570, analyzing canonical works and developing skills in visual analysis and historical context.

No offering record · Spring 2023

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2018–Spring 2023 · limited sample

ARTHIST 500 is a proseminar covering advanced, variable topics in Art History across diverse media, geographies, and cultures.

No offering record · Spring 2023

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2019–Spring 2023 · limited sample

A graduate seminar in art history where topics vary by media, geography, culture, and time frame.

No offering record · Spring 2023

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2020–Spring 2022 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2023ARTHIST 360Gore Luxury Identity Mimesis: Northern Renaissance
Spring 2023ARTHIST 500Proseminar: Special Topics in Art History
Spring 2023ARTHIST 731Topics in Early Modern Art
Spring 2023ARTHIST 800Seminar: Special Topics in Art History
Fall 2022ARTHIST 103Topics in Art History
Fall 2022ARTHIST 420Topics in Italian Renaissance Art
Fall 2022ARTHIST 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2022ARTHIST 731Topics in Early Modern Art
Spring 2022ARTHIST 103Topics in Art History
Spring 2022ARTHIST 500Proseminar: Special Topics in Art History
Spring 2022ARTHIST 800Seminar: Special Topics in Art History
Fall 2020ARTHIST 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2020ARTHIST 360Gore Luxury Identity Mimesis: Northern Renaissance
Spring 2020ARTHIST 403Topics in Art History
Spring 2020ARTHIST 731Topics in Early Modern Art
Fall 2019ARTHIST 420Topics in Italian Renaissance Art
Fall 2019ARTHIST 500Proseminar: Special Topics in Art History
Fall 2019ARTHIST 600Special Topics in Art History
Fall 2019ARTHIST 800Seminar: Special Topics in Art History

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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