Columbia College Core · Columbia University
I loved Zee. I am a chemistry major and thought I would never have an interest in art, but after her class I decided to become an Art History minor because I was so confident and excited by her class. She is definitely demanding, but that is only because everyone expects Art Hum to be simple... It is definitely possible to well in her class - you just need to do the work & do it well. If you are considering a major/minor/anything in Art History but have no background in the subject or even if you do, Zee is definitely your woman. She will prepare you to have opinions about art & feel confident to discuss anything (even modern art if you thought you'd never have a clue). I was completely prepared when I took my first 3000 level Art History class & had even done some of the readings already!
I agree with the other reviewers. Zee is an excellent teacher and very nice and i learned a ton, but she is a VERY tough grader (like the other reviewer said, she doesn't seem to realize that a B is a terrible grade!!!). The workload isn't bad at all, but her grading is extremely frustrating -- everyone always says how easy art hum is, so i was especially annoyed when i got a B+ and it pulled down my average for the semester by a lot. All in all, unless you are an excellent bullsh*tter (which I think you have to be at least somewhat good at to do well in art hum), then be prepared for your gpa to fall a bit (but you will learn a great deal, though!)
True, Zee will teach you about art. Her lectures are interesting and intense (or at least they seemed a little intense for 9 am). She is an in-your-face, participation-requiring art neo-enthusiast who will definitey require you to go beyond standard arthum time commitment. If you're taking arthum because you genuinely want to be challenged and learn, then take Zee. However, If you want to learn what everyone else learns and get out with a decent grade, then get away. To her you did "well" on a test if you received a B-...I don't think there are too many of us out there who are satisfied with B-'s.
Zee is amazing. While she is a tough grader and expects a lot, you will in turn learn a lot. Class discussions are interesting and intense and paper topics arnt so bad. Overall a good class
Not only is Zee an awesome teacher, she's a great person too. She's enthusiastic, encouraging, and smart. From what I've heard about other professors, she might be a little tougher in terms of grading and work-load, but please don't let this detract you from taking her class. She's not a bitter grad student; in fact, she's often commented on how helpful teaching is to her studies. The class is inspiring and fun. As we filled out evaluations at the end of the term, I looked around and saw that everyone gave her the best marks possible!
Not gonna lie, there is a great volume of work -- mostly short things, but you have assignments almost every week. Also she is a tough grader; if you think you are really going to be bad at art history & are hoping to slide by with an A-/B+, you may want to think twice...
high for arthum - definitely a difficult grader
One page paper about every week, two 5-6 page papers on outside trips to museums, midterm, final.