Introduction to the History of Photography · Art History And Archaeology
TONS of reading, 2 essays (3-5, 5-7 pages), midterm, final (open book except for slide IDs)
One visual analysis and one research paper Brief midterm exam in one hour - 3 short essay questions Short final exam - 4 short essays followed by 1 extended analysis Not overwhelming for a Columbia Course. Quite manageable.
Easy enough. Two papers, 7-10 pages (one requires a visit to the ICP), midterm and final (for which she gives you the shortest slide list I've ever had for an Art History final...)
don't let the "intro" in the title fool you.. as someone with no art history background i found myself incredibly lost for the first 3 months of this course. when professor buchloh lectures you get the sense that you're around someone of genius status, and i would have loved to sit in on his lectures without being graded for understanding them (as it appears many people did each class). he knows what he's talking about, and his theories and methods of teaching are very interesting. that said, i found this class to be one of the hardest i've ever taken. because i didn't really understand i was forced to do ALL of the reading and take down almost everything he said in lecture notes to get a decent grade. this turned out to be helpful for the mostly-open-book exams, which weren't as bad as i had expected. we did not have discussion sections with the TAs for some reason, and i think this had a lot to do with my classes mounting confusion. overall i think he's a great teacher and very knowledgeable, i would just recommend this class to someone who already has an art history background, or at least an intro course!
I first registered for History of Photography as a Pass/D/Fail course uncertain of what the workload or expectations would be. I was pleasantly surprised to find Prof. Alberro's lectures on History of Photography accessible and easy to understand. Readings were well-integrated into class discussions during the first half of the semester and the workload was manageable (nothing a bit of studying could not overcome). I was fortunate enough to have an excellent TA, which I found made a significant difference in aiding my comprehension of lecture. Molly worked hard to synthesize readings and explain them in a clear and accessible way to students. She took time to read over our work line by line and to offer extensive comments (in legible script), which facilitated studying for projects and exams later in the semester. I find many students are hesitant to take courses from graduate students, given perceived "lack of experience" and "unfamiliarity" with the material. However, I found Molly's explanations to be on-point and her knowledge of the material extensive. As a grad student and teaching fellow, only a few years older than her students, I think she was able to connect with students and clearly explain complex concept more readily than someone far older and ostensibly "versed" in the material. I appreciate the efforts she made to get to know students individually and to explain…
Boring. Boring boring boring boring boring boring boring. Painful. And boring. God, so boring.
Not horrible. Tons of reading (which most people do before the exam). Midterm and Final both open book for the essay parts, but the Photo Ids you have to memorize (15 out of 30 IDs for Midterm, 25 out of 40 for Final). 2 5-8 pps papers (first one based on photographs, second based on readings).
Light. Discussion section, standard art history comparisons, but NO MEMORIZATIONS :)
The class is fascinating and no matter how much art history you may know, or how much you know about photograph, you still learn alot. Buchloh is a little arrogant but then again when you know as much as he does why wouldn't you be. At first it is really hard to understand him but after a week or two you can slowly begin to work through each one of his sentences, which could drag on for 10 minutes at a time. Reading is fairly interesting but there is alot of it. 3 Readers and 2 books...the books you don't really need to know but they help with the exams but the readings from the Readers are heavily emphasized and tested on. And it helped that the TAs were fairly nice and understood that no one could possibly cover the amount that Buchloh expected from everyone.
I can't recommend Professor Alberro enough. His classes are perfect for the student looking for a light workload. His lectures are great for anyone who has never taken art history and those who have. If you just show up for lectures and discussion, you will be just fine on exams and you will learn a lot of very interesting material. I just signed up for my third class with Alberro. He is the most reasonable professor I've ever had. Every way you are evaluated is designed to let you show off what you know. That being said, I have learned so much in his classes. The bulk of the learning takes place in lecture. He always teaches with a conversational tone and makes a conscious effort to explain things in several ways and assumes there are students of different levels. Not everyone loves Alberro, but I certainly do. There is nothing better than when he steps out from behind the podium to explain a big idea.