Columbia College Core · Columbia University
Kind man but he is very strict when it comes to grading. He requires you to remember specific details during exams, and he will take off points if you don't remember them. Classes consist of a long lecture/presentation. Do not recommend, but if you have to take him, be prepared to study for those exams as you will have to remember dates, names, historical context, and more.
Essay 1 was fine, it was about an exhibit at the MET. But for some reason when he scheduled a mandatory field trip to the MET we went to another exhibit than the one we needed to explore for the paper, so I had to explore it on my own. The midterm... he gives a list of about 20 pieces of art where you need to memorize the name, year, location, patronage, commissioned by, and then every salient detail about the piece of art. On the exam he'll start off by doing "Identifications", where he'll put a piece of art on the board for 6 minutes and you need to write down like everything about it. Then there are two long essays. First is a comparison where he will put up two pieces of art and you need to compare and say everything about them. And then there is just an essay where you need to say everything about the piece. Now remember, he doesn't give the name, so you need to look at the piece and know everything about it. Furthermore, is grading is insane. First off, 6 minutes for 10 different talking points in a narrative format is ridiculous. He expects an insane amount of info for each prompt, and if you don't write exactly what he is looking for, then you lose points. When he went over the exam, he took 8 minutes to go over a couple of the identifications that he gave us 6 minutes to complete on the exam. Also, since he just puts the images on the board, you cannot go back to a qu…
The course is not done yet, however I am leaving a warning now. Do not take his class. First of all, he is not engaging, but if that was it then fine... however in Fitch's ArtHum class I had a harder time than Intermediate Microeconomics. Now refer to my the workload review to see why I reviewed him the way I did.
Two papers, two exams. Attendance and participation.
One of the worst professors I've had at Columbia. Nicholas does not have any rhyme or reason when grading exams and papers, and he does not give feedback so there's no way to know how to improve. His lectures were poorly structured, and he always discouraged interpretations of the works that were different from his.
If you are looking to complete your western art credit CHOOSE ANOTHER PROFESSOR. There's 2 essays, a mid-term, and a final. the midterms and final he grades difficult and that's not even the worst part. for his review guides he'll ask you to know, name, date, location, and historical significance and other stuff for 25+ works. mind you THERES IS AROUND 8 WORKS ON THE TEST. Friends who took other professors didn't have a rigorous a time as I did. FIND ANOTHER PROFESSOR!
Nick began the semester telling us that he too was a student and understood our work demands. Yet he would assign 100+ pages of reading per class. (That being said I certainly got more from the grueling readings than I ever did in class.)
Nick doesn't seem to have an agenda in mind when teaching and comments about artists seem to be related but not really important. I know this is part of the core, and a mandatory class, but I would have like to see something more substantial added by the professor. I do not feel I've learned the least about art history despite this class. Lectures are always tangential and do not add much beyond what the average viewer can see. There isn't a sense of coherence of building upon previous history in most of the classes. I'm not really sure I left this class with more than I had going in. Then again, if you are looking for a mind numbing class that doesn't take a shitload of work to do well (you will have to read at least some articles for a paper) and doesn't require memorizing artwork or dates - maybe Nick is for you.
Midterm and Final exam. Several essays. Readings for every class.