19th Century Art · Art History And Archaeology
-Not bad at all -1 to 2 readings a week. Usually a textbook chapter and an academic article -Paper graded pass/high-pass/fail -Midterm -Final
2 papers (no secondary sources), midterm, exam
Huge amount of readings that don't all have to be done, Midterm, Final, Two papers (4-5 pages and 6-8 pages)
Professor Crary is amazing. I don't know why he does not have a gold star. This is a must-take course for any art history major and a worthwhile one for anyone who even has a passing interest in art.
The lectures in this class are amazing, bordering on sublime. However, there is really nothing more to it than them. The reading is absolutely unneccesary (I know this because I never bought the books and got an A-), but classes are imperative since she discusses the larger themes over and over and gives great examples. She is a very smart lady and speaks well, despite the German accent and tendancy to say ten syllable words and refuse to translate them. All in all, I highly recommend this class, for nothing else but the fact that you get hours of beautiful entertainment with absolutely no work involved.
Professor Higgonet is an amazing lecturer. Her lectures are engaging and interesting and always perfectly prepared for the class. I'm an art history major, and I thought this was one of the easiest Art History classes I've taken. Yes, you have to memorize slides but really a low number comparatively. I took this class and never had a conversation or interaction with Professor Higgonet. I liked my TA and they are really the ones there to interact with students. She doesn't take attendance, doesn't care if you spend the entire class on your laptop on fb, but its worth your while to go to class and pay attention.
If I could have Crary's children, I would.
I just want to issue a disclaimer: he does not necessarily follow the syllabus. I took this class solely because of my interest in impressionism. This midterm (which was slightly after the middle of the term) was almost entirely late 18th century art with some that went into the 1830s. We spent maybe 3 classes on the impressionists. From what I've heard from other students and seen on culpa, this isn't an isolated incident. If history paintings spark your interests, then by all means, take this class, but don't take it for the sake of impressionism.
midterm, final, paper...fairly graded. Study the slides really well and you will be prepared. Bring in points from readings and lecture on midterm, final and paper! Attend all weekly sections and lectures!
Overall, I really enjoyed this course. I had never taken any type of art history course before and jumped right into 19th century painting with Crary. This course made me fall in love with studying art, and now I am strongly considering the Art History major. I would say that showing up to lecture is crucial for succeeding in the class. First of all, Crary is such a genius and we should all feel privileged to have the opportunity to listen to him talk about major works of art. Second of all, his insight on each of the paintings can be helpful for writing the essay and for the exams. You get points on the midterm and final if you discuss the lectures, and you are expected to discuss them in the essay. The course also involves weekly readings, which need to be read carefully and possibly more than once to be fully understood. In weekly discussion sections, you are expected to discuss points from these readings. The lecture itself could get tedious at times, but the weekly discussion section was always engaging and was a great place to delve into certain topics and paintings of the course. Try to get into Brigid Von Pruessen's section. She is super nice and very helpful! I also heard she is slightly more generous than other TAs with grading. Many people thought this class had very harsh grading, but I disagree. You have to put in the study time for the exams, but if you do, you w…