Columbia College Core · Columbia University
Weekly image assignments, 2 papers, midterm and a final. Seemed to be pretty consistent with other Art Hum classes.
Fantastic professor—brilliant, organized, and very kind! She clearly loves to teach, and her passion for the material made the content so much more engaging. She was very supportive, too, I had some personal issues this semester that made it really hard to keep up with classes at times, and she was incredibly kind and willing to work with me to get through the semester. Good lecturer, fair grader, and very skilled and leading a discussion. It didn’t feel like some of the other Core classes where we all go around in circles but no one actually has a conversation. Without a doubt, one of my favorite professors and classes at Columbia—highly recommend!
Stay away from this class…One of the worst professors I’ve had at Columbia, she expects you to have A PhD coming into this class. If she doesn’t like you, know that you’re failing the course. BARELY GIVES FEEDBACK ON THE WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS… SHES ALWAYS CLAIMS STUDENTS ARE USING AI in their papers.. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PROFRSSOR….TRUST ME…
Semi-weekly annotations (around 20 minutes of work each) Two essays (3-4 pages) Midterm (image IDs and comparisons) Final (same format as midterm, plus one unknown image) Overall, a pretty light workload with optional content available to those interested.
Professor Kuruvilla is fantastic! She walks the extremely tight-rope of being an expert in art and art history without being pretentious. I came into the class with 0 knowledge of visual art (and nearly 0 interest). I'm still no expert, but now if I were at a fancy cocktail party and the subject of art came up, I could at least pretend to know what I'm talking about for a bit! By the end of the semester, I found myself genuinely engaged in class discussion and eager to offer my thoughts about the works we saw. The class includes 3-4 "field trips" (St. John the Divine, the MET, MoMA), two of which are in service of essays. The exams are largely memorization-based (you'll see a slide with an artwork and have to ID its name, the artist, and the year it was produced). You also need to write a few paragraphs about the work in addition to the ID, so it pays to show up to class, as all of the information you'll need comes from the lecture.
Genuinely the best instructor you can take for Art Hum. Super organized and engaging, I actually looked forward to class every week. She is very kind and encouraging when you particpate, and even if you aren't quite on track, helps you get there. One of the best profs I've had at Columbia, and I know my classmates felt the same. Fair grader and manageable workload, high recommend!
Amazing. Couldn't have asked for a better professor. I entered without much knowledge or passion for art and left with a completely new understanding and appreciation, which is what the class is supposed to do. Only because Tara's so passionate about it.