Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Copelovitch is a great prof with great lectures. The tests were a little difficult, but as long as you go to lecture consistently you'll do fine.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Mark Copelovitch
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Copelovitch is a good lecturer- he has clear and straightforward slides and connects material to real-world examples, which help reinforce concepts. Not a lot of work for class, but pay attention to detail for tests. ID questions graded harshly. must work hard for A, tests are bulk of grade. lecture isn't mandatory but important to get an ARate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Copelovitch was very passionate about IR, and it was great learning from him. Although the lecture was very content-heavy, he did his best to keep everyone engaged and relate to our age group through pop culture, which I appreciated. I will say you have to work pretty hard to get an A, and it really depends on your TA as well.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
This professor had good lectures, but sometimes talked fast. But he's still a great professor who is super knowledgeable. My TA didn't really give that much feedback on assignments, which was annoying. Overall, class is manageable, but you will have to work hard to get an A, and there aren't a ton of assignments to balance out bad test scores.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
From a TA for Prof. Copelovitch: Students seeking a fair grade should avoid this class. He has a predetermined average for students & will redirect TAs to re-grade all material so that it comports with that average. You will not be graded as an individual. Most of my students deserved As. They did not receive them. I wish I'd fought back more.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Copelovitch is highly intelligent and respected in IR and it shows in his lectures. Beware that the majority of your grade is from very long midterm essays that weren't super clear on grading criteria. I feel like I learned a lot from this class and would take another class with Professor Copelovitch.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Mark Copelovitch
Introduction to International Relations covers major global issues since WWII, focusing on state interactions and analytical tools.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Mark Copelovitch is passionate and engaging, using pop culture to aid understanding. Students disagree on difficulty; some find exams fair, others confusing. Success requires consistent attendance and reading. The course is rigorous and not an easy A.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026POLISCI 699
Directed Study
1–4 creditsPOLISCI 699 offers directed study projects for juniors and seniors arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=1 letter grades).
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited samplePOLISCI 990
Research and Thesis
1–3 creditsPOLISCI 990 is a research and thesis course conducted under the direction of faculty.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
POLISCI 999
Independent Work
2–3 creditsPOLISCI 999 is an independent work course where students conduct research or projects under the direction of a faculty staff member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
PUBAFFR 799
Independent Reading
1–3 creditsPUBAFFR 799 is an independent reading course where students devise a custom program of study in collaboration with an instructor.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | POLISCI 140 | Introduction to International Relations |
| Fall 2026 | POLISCI 699 | Directed Study |
| Fall 2026 | POLISCI 990 | Research and Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | POLISCI 999 | Independent Work |
| Fall 2026 | PUBAFFR 799 | Independent Reading |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_4a0703766f0525b5d73fdf22",
"source": "enrollment",
"source_instructor_id": "copelovitch",
"identity_basis": "netid",
"identity_status": "source_identified",
"name": "Mark Copelovitch",
"email": "COPELOVITCH@WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 77,
"quality": 4.51,
"difficulty": 3.26,
"quality_count": 77,
"difficulty_count": 77,
"profile_id": "rmp:1440438",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1440438",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:20:40.154354+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_06dafc75d411dce45dc57976": {
"review_count": 21,
"quality": 4.43,
"difficulty": 3.52,
"quality_count": 21,
"difficulty_count": 21
},
"course_767d0cb707b806b279292846": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 3,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
},
"course_ad16846c2b341f80ecfb51b4": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 4,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 4.334677481143628,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": true,
"courses": [
{
"course_uid": "course_06dafc75d411dce45dc57976",
"course_id": "POLISCI 140",
"title": "INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS",
"credits_min": 3,
"credits_max": 4,
"gpa": 3.382
},
{
"course_uid": "course_0ad086f79f3d4866d9b151ff",
"course_id": "POLISCI 990",
"title": "RESEARCH AND THESIS",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_7b0f246956e1f17708500802",
"course_id": "PUBAFFR 799",
"title": "INDEPENDENT READING",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": 4
},
{
"course_uid": "course_7ca3686bd02a900eeb9fd3ab",
"course_id": "POLISCI 999",
"title": "INDEPENDENT WORK",
"credits_min": 2,
"credits_max": 3,
"gpa": null
},
{
"course_uid": "course_865b1bb72dbb40a60d118741",
"course_id": "POLISCI 699",
"title": "DIRECTED STUDY",
"credits_min": 1,
"credits_max": 4,
"gpa": 3.762
}
],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/MARK_COPELOVITCH"
}