Arts of China, Japan & Korea · East Asian Languages And Cultures
Generally low workload. 2 essays, 4 pages each. Choose from 2 topics for each essay. Midterm has artwork ID and comparison of 2 objects within the time limit. Final is the same but with 2 essays added on, essay 1 pick a topic from a list of 5, essay 2 pick any Asian art topic of your choice. Grading tends to be a full letter grade below what you anticipate.
If you love memorization, this is the class for you, amigo!
2 papers midterm final attendance/participation
Two four page papers, midterm, final, two museum visits, attendance, participation
2 5 page papers, one short presentation on reading to the class, reading is manageable though not easy, midterm and final
Readings for classes, mid-term, final, 2 papers
uneven: some weeks very light, other weeks very heavy
One midterm and final. Moderate reading which, I eventually realized, was not necessary for success in the course. One three to five page and one five to seven page paper, each based on separate visits to the MET art museum. Attendance and participation.
TLDR; Interesting material, low workload, awesomely smart professor, but very bad grading practices. I took this class as my global core elective to complement the Asian lit course I took. You definitely don't need to take an Asian lit but it helped a little bit with some of the artwork connected to literature. The material could either be very interesting or very boring, depends on how into pottery you are, which is half the class. Personally, I found Prof Delbanco very knowledgeable. She really knows what she is teaching, but sometimes this can cause problems. When talking about certain art pieces, it seems like I am not learning to analyze them on my own observations, but hers. When it came time to write an essay or take an exam, if you do not regurgitate the same interpretations as given in lecture as pure fact, you will lose lots of points. In this class, the world of asian art oddly becomes NOT open to interpretation, I was criticized on every single essay because the TA disagreed with my analysis. Making logical points and connecting the dots in your own analysis does not save you!! The TAs are HARSH graders, with very little to justify their grading. I handed in well-thought and polished essays that should have been As, but was given Bs. For a course that has easy and enjoyable material, it is made artificially difficult through intentionally low grades. The intention…
You know what: if you love yourself, don't take this course. Just don't do it to yourself. And don't say I didn't warn you. No, she really doesn't have a sense of humor. None. Sandrine, why so dry? Why so serious? It's just a clay pot. Generally, I'd be able to handle all of the above. It's just that there was no exciting theory to hook onto. The manner in which we observe is more important than what we are observing. Got it? There was a lot of stating the obvious and memorizing dates. So many dynasties. Argh.