She loves her work and it shows. She's very encouraging of students and loves to hear them out about any issues. The workload was fairly light, too, and you get lots of support/guidance for it.

I really loved this class and feel like I changed my perspective on studying history and especially the importance of it. I highly recommend Professor Ratner-Rosenhagen.

Prof. is very kind, gives amazing feedback, truly loves her craft and made a relatively boring subject very interesting and engaging, I would recommend this class to anyone interested in historical thought.

One of those classes where you can scrape by without an insane amount of work, but you can get so much out of it if you actively engage. Prof. Ratner-Rosenhagen clearly cares deeply about the material she teaches and makes for an entertaining and genuinely thought provoking class.

This course was a great overall experience and this professor was incredible. She was very passionate and caring about the lessons and was a good communicator with students. The assignments were interesting and we were given a fair amount of time to complete them.

I am so grateful to have taken this course. This was my favorite class in college so far because it's the first class where I actually had to really use my brain and think critically. She is an outstanding teacher, very knowledgable, and very encouraging of her students. Each class was mainly discussion based but the material was interesting.

Super cool class w/mix of lectures/discussions. It's crazy what this woman knows. I preferred learning political theory here in the history of thought than in my poly sci courses. She's approachable, funny and understanding if you need an extension. But she will also make you do the work. Truly fantastic experience if you actually want to learn.

She's very passionate and energetic--discussions never really faltered. But, she cares so much that when students are not engaged, she is quick to anger. She clearly enjoys teaching & being around engaged students. Her seminars were easy to listen to. To avoid her ire, do the readings (there are many) so you can hold your ground in discussions.

Prof. Ratner-Rosenhagen is a caring and accommodating professor, but Hist 170 could be disorganized (hopefully issues will be worked out next year - the class was new). Sometimes lectures and assignments were unclear and expectations changed frequently. However, Prof. Ratner-Rosenhagen is helpful and accommodating and worked out issues.

This class was fantastic! I learned so much and it was super interesting material. Totally recommend.

I am sad that this course is almost over b/c Prof. RR is an amazing prof., and I've learned so much. You will learn to think about American history in an entirely new way. The pace/organization in the class is excellent, and the material is interesting and stays with you. If you can, try to take the course with a discussion component with her!

Wonderful person, but her class requires reading A LOT (at least a few hours each week). The readings can be repetitive, boring, and hard to understand, so unless you really like historical texts and have strong reading comprehension skills, I wouldn't recommend this class. Your grades won't be bad if you know the readings, but otherwise good luck.

I am loving this class! Readings are really interesting, and the professor does a great job breaking down their main points and showing how they are a window on American history at that time. Course is well structured to keep you organized so you don't fall behind. There is flexibility with assignments & extra credit, too. In sum, a great course!

A great course!

This was hands down my best class at UW. 109 is a fascinating take on US history, because it looks at history through ideas and culture. Prof. RR is one of the best professors I've had the pleasure to learn from, and my TA was also excellent. They made a great team and a super class.

I was hoping to find another class like Prof. Ratner-Rosenhagen's "Seven Deadly Sins" class but there isn't because it's so unique. So far it's been my favorite course here at UW, because it combined history and philosophy in ways that will make you approach both from a new perspective. "There is no sin without context" has stayed with me.

A lot of reading every week

Get ready to read about 100 pages per week. Bland, boring readings that you have to read because you get quizzed on them every week. Papers are no easier. All based on the readings and comparing them to each other. Terrible class, boring and a ton of work for what you get out of it.

This class teaches US history through ideas such as political thought, philosophy and social commentary. It's maybe one of the most challenging courses I've taken but also the most interesting. The professor is very engaging in her powerpoints and very friendly and encouraging in person. Highly recommend.

DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE! Easily the worst thing I have ever endured. The information was awful, the TAs were awful, the grading was awful, and the papers were AWFUL. I wouldnt wish this class on my worst enemy. I have taken very intense classes at UW that are weed outs and this one is worse than all of them. This class should be removed from UW.

Worst class ever. If you think Calc 2 or Organic Chemistry is bad try taking this class. They grade incredibly hard. Even with extensive history knowledge, you will struggle. Do not take this professor or this class. This class made me hate history with a passion. Honestly she needs to be told to grade better, ESPECIALLY for a 100 level.

This class was seriously so awful. I took History 109 thinking it would be a 100 level class on American History. Not only was the content not what I expected, but the amount of work that goes into this "100" level class is absolutely unreal. The TA's grade incredibly hard and the exams are hard to finish on time. This class was one of the worst.

I never met her the entire semester. Thought taking a 100 level course (History 109) wouldn't be that bad. WRONG. Horribly set up class and just not a very good teacher. I would never take one of her classes again. Ever.

Worst class I have ever taken hands down. I thought History 109 would be an elementary level class like it is supposed to be, however with all the readings and quizzes it was more a 300 level class. Hardest grading out of any class I have ever taken. Get ready for the 6-8 page SINGLE spaced final paper. Yep, you heard me right, single-spaced.

You can't goof off. You really have to do all the work and put thought into it. But if you do you will see why this class is popular. It's one of the few classes I'll remember with fondness long after I've graduated.

Not a blow-off class, dont be deceived! But it is the most intense and fun class Ive taken at UW. Prof. RR is the best part of the class. Too bad that she doesnt run discussion more because you will learn the most from her directly. I would have never known what intellectual history is, but Id be interested in taking her other classes now.

The workload is similar to that of 300+ level courses. Get ready to write a bunch of papers and for the harsh critique that follows. The Professor clearly cares about the topic but often comes off as quite self-righteous.

Fantastic class! This should be a required capstone course for all students. It's a great way to reflect on your college experience. Be prepared to write a ton of papers, but they are very short and the prompts guarantee you will come up with something interesting. Shell really help you improve your writing, if you're willing to do the work.

So much work for 3 credits. You have to go to events outside of class and write papers almost every week on toughly worded quotes. Ridiculously hard grader on papers and gives bare feedback on how to improve. Class is just a lot of author visits which are cool but still the reading and prep that one has to do beforehand is way too much.

Boring class periods and severely disorganized class structure. You can tell she is passionate about what she does, but none of it resonates with students. Pretty easy class, but a lot of outside class work.

I took her class over the summer and I didn't have that great of an experience. We (about 12 of us) sat in a circle for 3 hours a day M-Thurs. It was more of a "assigned readingbook club" atmosphere than anything. I did not find her lectures interesting and the assigned readings were very dull.

Phenomenal. Been a year since I had her class/graduated but was just thinking about it and thought I'd review. One of my favorites in retrospect.

Great great class. Interesting readings, fun discussions. Yeah, she stops to collect her thoughts a lot during lecture, but she's still a genius. Good class.

A good professor, but a little bit hard to listen to. Sometimes it seemed that she wasn't prepared for the lecture and constantly stopped to collect her thoughts. Don't read the textbook, she goes over that well in lecture, but do read the required texts or you're screwed.

Great class overall. Prof. Ratner-Rosenhagen provides the essay prompts before exams, there are no suprises. Interesting class, pay attention and do the assigned reading and you will do well.

great prof fun class plus she is super hot

Most interesting class i have taken at UW but there is a TON of reading, and the thought is intense. Shes fun and amusing and will keep you entertained. Strongly recommend if you don't mind the work.

She's the best history professor ever. If you want to learn about what Americans thought about in various times in history, she will take you on a rollar-coaster ride through the past to the present. Extremely engaging, extremely nice, extremely friendly. Best teacher, you'll love her. She WILL get you interested in the material.

What do you get when you combine philosophy and history together? You get Professor Ratner-Rosenhagen's class which is hands down one of the top 2 classes I have taken at UW-Madison! Loved her teaching...so passionate...so enthusiastic. I loved every minute of her class. I was extremely sad when the semester was over. Highest recommendations.

She's very enthusiastic, but lectures aren't important as long as you can B.S. enough on your essays to get a decent grade.

She is a pretty decent prof. Very interested in teaching the material and gives you the midterm essay questions before the exam so you can prepare. The class material is centered around American thought at different periods of the century, not on facts or dates, so thats something to watch out for. Overall an easy prof and an easy class.

I have to agree Prof. Ratner is a great professor!For a 75 min lecture, the images she chooses for the power point and the way she chooses to present the information, how people thought of the issues at the time, she keeps you engaged. You don't have to read the textbook to do well on exams. Just listen in lecture, you'll be fine. Love her!

JRR is a great professor. She does read from her notes, but the lecture is like listening to the History Channel aka extremely interesting. She does a great job of covering the themes throughout history and makes sure you know pivotal events. The essay questions on her two midterms and the final are all given to students a week in advance too.

Not a good lecturer, as she essentially reads from her notes, which is very difficult to follow for 75 minutes. One two-page paper and essay exams account for the grade though, which is really nice.

Prof. Ratner is a fair teacher. She is quite unorganized and teaches from her notes which make her difficult to follow. She does interesting class-involvement things in lecture however and she provide good constructive comments and criticism. Poor lecture-prof. but she is much better and able to get her points across one on one.