Historical instructor

LARRY NESPER

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.97/5 from 65 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

AMERIND/ANTHRO 314
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
You can tell he is passionate about what hes teaching, but his lectures arent recorded to review later, and he pretty much only grades his exams and discussions.
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ANTH300 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor Nesper is definitely a character and can be quite funny sometime. He's really passionate about what he teaches, and if you go into it with an open mind and are ready to think critically, this class is great. It really helped me thing more broadly. My one critique is that his grading is a bit ambiguous, but it's definitely manageable.
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ANTH300 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Larry is very passionate about what he teaches, but doesn't make sense half the time. It's super easy to get him off topic and discuss random things which is great, but he doesn't tell you what is expected on tests. There's a lot of reading and he doesn't outline what the grading rubric is. Doesn't put any grades on learn@UW which is annoying
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ANTH300 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
The grading criteria was very unclear. However, the material discussed in class was extremely interesting and broad. I walked away from this class having read a wide variety of texts, which are applicable to many subjects. If you don't care about getting an A, this class is a must take.
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ANTH300 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
I never understood what we were talking about and none of the lecture time was actually used to explain concepts or make anything clearer. The professor teaches cultural anthropology but uses almost no examples and literally everything is just theory. Definitely regret taking this class
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ANTH300 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
I am an Anthropology major and took both Nespers Anthro 300 and 314 classes. Nesper is a poor but passionate lecturer that will have you endlessly staring down the clock. He is a terribly unfair grader and if he does not like you, you will not do well. Make sure to participate! I would never recommend any of his classes, but if you do- Good Luck!!
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with LARRY NESPER

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
Fall 2021ENVIRST 990Research
Fall 2020AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2020ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2020ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2020ENVIRST 990Research
Spring 2020ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Spring 2020ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2020ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Spring 2020ENVIRST 990Research
Fall 2019AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2019ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2019ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2019ENVIRST 990Research
Spring 2019ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2019ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Spring 2019ENVIRST 922Historical and Cultural Methods in Environmental Research
Spring 2019ENVIRST 990Research
Fall 2018ANTHRO 860History of Anthropological Theory
Fall 2018ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2018ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2018ENVIRST 990Research
Spring 2018AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Spring 2018ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Spring 2018ANTHRO 699Directed Study
Spring 2018ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2018ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2017ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2017ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2017ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2016AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2016ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Fall 2016ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2016ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2016ENVIRST 990Research
Spring 2016ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2016ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Spring 2016ANTHRO/RELIGST 343Anthropology of Religion
Fall 2015AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2015ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Fall 2015ANTHRO 699Directed Study
Fall 2015ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2015ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Spring 2015AMERIND 250Indians of Wisconsin
Spring 2015ANTHRO 690Problems in Anthropology
Spring 2015ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2014AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2014ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Fall 2014ANTHRO 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2014ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2014AMERIND 250Indians of Wisconsin
Spring 2014AMERIND 699Directed Study
Spring 2014ANTHRO 699Directed Study
Spring 2014ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2013AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2013ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Fall 2013ANTHRO 699Directed Study
Fall 2013ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2013AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Spring 2013ANTHRO 698Directed Study
Spring 2013ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2013ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2012AMERIND 250Indians of Wisconsin
Fall 2012ANTHRO 330Topics in Ethnology
Fall 2012ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2012ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2012LEGALST 699Directed Study
Spring 2012ANTHRO 104Cultural Anthropology and Human Diversity
Spring 2012ANTHRO 699Directed Study
Spring 2012ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2011AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2011ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2011ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Spring 2011ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2010AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2010ANTHRO 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2010ANTHRO 699Directed Study
Fall 2010ANTHRO 860History of Anthropological Theory
Fall 2010ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2010AMERIND 450Issues in American Indian Studies
Spring 2010ANTHRO 490Undergraduate Seminar
Spring 2010ANTHRO 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2010ANTHRO 698Directed Study
Spring 2010ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2010ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2009AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2009ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Fall 2009ANTHRO 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2009ANTHRO 698Directed Study
Fall 2009ANTHRO 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2009ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Spring 2009AMERIND 450Issues in American Indian Studies
Spring 2009ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Spring 2009ANTHRO 330Topics in Ethnology
Spring 2009ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Fall 2008AMERIND/ANTHRO 314Indians of North America
Fall 2008ANTHRO 699Directed Study
Fall 2008ANTHRO 999Reading and Research
Spring 2008AMERIND 699Directed Study
Spring 2008ANTHRO 300Cultural Anthropology: Theory and Ethnography
Spring 2008ANTHRO 999Reading and Research

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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