I thought I was going crazy or something til I read these recent reviews. I took this class this fall due to the good reviews on this site. I'm guessing TAs wrote those to encourage people to take this class or something, because for one -- I have never attended lectures more un-engaging, and two -- this is NOT an easy GE. Yes, it's concerning art, and it is a GE, so it should be easy, but this class is taken way too seriously. The homework is impossible to read. Top marks received in this class are Bs. You can follow directions and still fail. The reviews left on how the ridiculous the final was were accurate. Your life has to absolutely revolve around art history if you want to get a decent grade in this class. Probably gonna have to get my grade expunged from my record. Do not take.

She sucks so much. This class is way too much work for a GE. So much memorization, whatever you do, do NOT take this class. You will regret it

This is NOT an easy GE so if that’s what you’re looking for keep it moving. The midterm and final are graded harshly and require a lot of memorization. The material of the class is interesting but not worth the 4 in class essays that you have to write for the final.

I regret taking this class. You have to memorize in total about 70 different artworks (35 for the midterm and 35 for the final), the artist, the patron, the date, the location, context, and specific details of every single one. This wouldn't be a problem if you were given the lists more in advanced instead of a few days before the final. Lecture was incredibly boring. The professor just spoon feeds you information for an hour and fifteen minutes. She tries way too hard to sound eloquent, often times pausing to find a good word. She often has leaps in logic, as she makes a claim but poorly explains it or doesn't at all. The readings were confusing. It's much better to use online sources for contextualizing the artworks. But you are expected to have one page notes each time you go to discussion.

This class tries way too hard to be taken seriously, and it is shown in the exams. Most art history classes have usual slide comparisons and art critiques but professor Wilson apparently feels like that isn't enough. So she slaps together 35 paintings/sculptures/monuments and makes students not only respond to 2 slide comparisons but also 2 FREE RESPONSE ESSAYS??? Are you serious? Do not take this class with this professor. I can confidently say that anybody who rated this professor above a 2 just lied. Not to mention that the grading on the exams is extremely unforgiving as well.

Not sure what all these other reviewers are on, but I found prof. Wilson inCREDIBLY boring. She can listen to herself analyze 2 artworks for 45 minutes, no joke. The weekly homework isn't so but, but people failed to mention the INSANE expectations for the midterm and final. The midterm is 2 in class essays, each comparing 2 artworks selected for us. Keep in mind she gives us a list of objects we might see on the test, but that list has 30-35 objects!!! So basically to study we need to memorize the artist, date, location, patron, and historical context of over thirty pieces.

Then for the final there are FOUR IN CLASS ESSAYS. We have another 2 comparison essays with a whole new list of 35 objects to know. Then we have 2 more free response questions that we can choose 2 of 6 prompts.

Just warning you now, this is not an easy class solely because of the tests.

I really loved this class!!! However, I don't think I would have liked it nearly as much if I took the class in person.

Professor Wilson held live lectures over zoom that I thought were very very interesting. Each week we cover a different theme in art such as gender or power. Lectures were always insightful and I personally found them very interesting.

I also loved my TA, Catherine. Discussions were made optional for fall 2021 quarter but I went every week because my TA made the discussions so engaging.

We have three essays to write where we compare 2 different art works. These were easy and fun but ONLY because we did not have to do them in person. In the essay you are required to fully identify the two art pieces you are comparing and give a full in-depth analysis of them. We are not told what 2 pieces we have to compare before the paper, so this would be extremely difficult if the papers were in-class papers because that means you would have to memorize everything about every art piece we discussed in class. I was lucky enough to not have the papers be in-class essays so I was able to use my notes and refer to the recorded lectures to write them. I got As on all my papers because of this.

I personally really enjoyed this class but also I took AP art history in high school so I had a little bit of background info. I think that if I've never taken an art history class I would definitely be very confused because a lot of times the professor and even the TAs assume we know a lot of art history terminology and stuff like that.

The exams (midterm and final) is what will destroy your grade. Professor Wilson was a great lecturer and very passionate about what she teaches. I wish the grading for this class was structured differently. Like everyone said, this is not an easy GE.

The class is way more tougher than needed for a freshman GE class. Your grade is dependent on both the midterm and the final which both require hardcore memorization on multiple objects. Both of them include two slide comparisons to be done in 30 minutes each; the works to be compared are taken from a list of about 30 art pieces, of which you need to know the medium, original location, date (to 20 years), title, and artist. Comparisons must be done by comparing the visual elements and linking them with the historical context of both paintings. The finals include 2 free-response essays, forcing you to write 4 essays in the span of 2 hours on the overarching topics of the class. You are given just the 5 topics; the questions are omitted so there's the possibility of arguing wrong for the topics. Discussion section was enjoyable though; Rafael was really engaging and helpful throughout the entire quarter, and his humor helped make the class a less of a disaster.

This review is for AH 121D. Her voice and wordiness seem to bore almost everyone in class because, as someone has stated, she often tries too hard to look for words, hence failing to sound eloquent. Her grading was harsh, and she did not offer feedback as to why you got the grade. The instructions for the assignments were vague, and then, students submitted something she was not expecting, and they received bad grades. She does not even attempt to remember the names of their students, which I felt was alienating. Overall, I would recommend staying away from her classes. Other professors in the art history department care more about their students and have far more enriching courses that you will look forward to attending. Her classes left me with a bad experience in both Renaissance and Baroque art.