Historical instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Prof Wagner's lectures are really engaging and interesting as he uses his own research in his class. The class can get political because of this, but he keeps a very unbias view when explaining different sides. The readings are sometimes lengthy but should be read, because you are expected to give two speeches in section based off of them.Rate My Professors ↗
Professor Wagner made a great well-rounded class with fair grades and expectations on work. That being said he on multiple occasions told students angrily to "shut up" in lecture. Overall, he was fantastic lecturer, and I understand managing a class for underclassmen can be frustrating, but how he addressed students in lecture felt unprofessional.Rate My Professors ↗
I took professor Wanger for J201 and if I wasn't already sure I wanted to do journalism, he was the nail in the coffin. Incredibly charismatic person and amazing, engaging lecturerRate My Professors ↗
prowag is a funny and engaging lecturer. He made the material interesting, and other lecturers no doubt would have made it a snooze fest. He is also very well accredited and generally an obvious expert on the material, so he can talk in-depth and answer further questions well.Rate My Professors ↗
Prof. Wagner is literally the best. Very encouraging and kind, yet also down-to-business and knowledgeable. I highly encourage you take any course you can with Prof. Wagner.Rate My Professors ↗
Pro Wag made me fall in love with Journalism, and now I'm in the school and loving it. He has a positive energy as a professor, and made 9am lecture enjoyable and enlightening. Taking 201 with him freshman year pushed my boundaries in the best ways. Discussions were stressful, but that's due to our TA...Highly recommend taking Pro Wag's classes :)Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_265be2c35a694be9d1d2aebb",
"source": "legacy",
"source_instructor_id": null,
"identity_basis": "name_only",
"identity_status": "unresolved",
"name": "Michael Wagner",
"email": "MICHAEL.WAGNER@WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2025-12-03 12:33:41.418072+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 33,
"quality": 4.76,
"difficulty": 2.88,
"quality_count": 33,
"difficulty_count": 33,
"profile_id": "rmp:1951615",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1951615",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:17:24.035057+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_b53a6b9d1b893ffe166e8160": {
"review_count": 1,
"quality": 5,
"difficulty": 2,
"quality_count": 1,
"difficulty_count": 1
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 4.344787088130791,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": false,
"courses": [],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/MICHAEL_WAGNER--instructor_265be2c35a694be9d1d2aebb"
}