Jonathan Crary

I was honestly so incredibly shocked to see the previous comment about Professor Crary, because it is simply not true at all!! He has always been extremely respectful to all of his students, and the classroom environment has been nothing but supportive. I have no idea where the previous comment came from... In fact, Professor Crary is my favorite professor at Columbia. He is incredibly knowledgeable and has an amazing ability to make even the most complex material genuinely interesting. I am always captivated by what he says. He is eager to hear what students think and frequently asks us to share our thoughts, which makes class and discussion highly engaging. I especially enjoyed his organized, brief PowerPoint introductions on different thinkers/writers at the beginning of class, which were always clear and informative and consistently led into strong discussions. He also points out the most important passages in the readings during class, which I found very helpful. The course was very thoughtfully structured, and everything lined up really well so you can clearly see the themes developing over time. If you are an Art History major, or even remotely interested in art history, you MUST take a class with Professor Crary. He is truly the best, and I cannot recommend him enough. I took his History of Painting course first and loved it so much that I took this seminar with him as…

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.

I took Nineteenth Century Criticism junior year with Professor Crary. I had read some of his work, and so couldn't believe I was being taught by him in a class with only five other students. Professor Crary is one of the most articulate and fascinating speakers I have come across. Even though our seminar was much less discussion based than I had expected, I did not mind because listening to Professor Crary speak about the texts was illuminating in itself. I thought the selection of texts was really great as well. There were very few written assignments, which made it hard to know exactly how you're doing through out the semester, but he is fair, and really just wants to see that you're engaging with the texts. Another thing that's worth mentioning is that the syllabus was organized around a very specific central point, one that he himself had written about, and so, in a way the discussions were much more directed and focused than other seminars tend to be. Crary is not the most accessible professor, which was understandable, but often frustrating. I wished I would have been able to go deeper into the discussions, and even in class time it always seemed like we were running low on time.

Light workload and very interesting lecture style. Midterm and final are take home and directly relate to course content. very manageable 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2024 Course: AHISUN2415_001_2024_3-HistoryPaintingandItsAfterlives : AHISUN2415_001_2024_3 - History Painting and Its Afterlives Instructor: Jonathan Crary

Johnathan Crary is a classical Establishment Art Historian. He wouldn't know postmodernism (let alone a pomo reading of somethign) if it bit him in the ass! He wouldn't know modernism if it bit him in the ass. 1. I and another girl had our hands up for 5-10 min while he called thrice on some white guy named J**** before calling on either of us! He is either blind as a bat (Perfectly probable— J**** was right beside him, we were at the opposite end of the Schermerhorn Art History Classroom Seminar Table™) or he is a bigot. 2. Bigot: equally possible, given that he uses the world 'problematize' as though colonialism is problématique when you pint out it's flaws and not the result of an inherently problematic system. I remember my UW porfessor told us, if you're ever in a classroom with a professor who says, "problematize," get out. Now I see why. 3. When students are talking he seems to be literally shaking with eagerness waiting for them to stop talking so that he can say his own thoughts. If what you said dosen't match what he wanted you to say, he will either put an end to to the topic you brought up asking a leading question of his own as soon as you're done talking, or flat-out say what he was thinking after giving you a nod and smile despite never making eye contact with you. 4. You will show up to a seminar with him and hear him say he is "interested in what you all have…

If I could have Crary's children, I would.

Great topic and professor. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2021 Course: AHISUN2415_001_2021_3-HistoryPaintingandItsAfterlives : AHISUN2415_001_2021_3 - History Painting and Its Afterlives Instructor: Jonathan Crary

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.

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…

Class and Professor: This class was really fascinating, and Professor Crary has an interesting and unique interpretation of 19th Century Art. The problem is he takes far too long to say it. We did not finish his syllabus, and, after spending 3 or 4 whole classes on David (who worked mostly in the 18th century...), we skimmed over Impressionism, skipping Post-Impressionism and the end of the century entirely. We missed a lot of the big paintings that you would expect to cover, but I think the "road less traveled" is more his style. He was a little disorganized too, and didn't allow computers at all, which made note taking (and sharing) very cumbersome. TA: Eliza Butler is amazing; she is by far the best TA I've ever had. She is very laid back, and seemingly without effort can produce some of the most productive and interesting discussions. She encourages independent thought and criticism. She's a very fair grader, and is realistic (and lax) about student attendance. She manages to be informal, but still commands a sense of respect. I have had her for two discussion sections, and am signing up for a third, and planning on taking her Art Hum section next semester (if I can get in). And she's smart as a whip!