TLDR: Ancient Art is a fast-paced, theme-driven analysis of ancient Old World civilizations that is rewards memorization and persistence. Not too difficult, great for knocking out a GE.

The professor: Professor Kennedy-Quigley is a fantastic lecturer, and I would take another one of her classes in a heartbeat if I had the chance! She comes to class incredibly prepared and enthusiastic to present her material, no matter which region it takes place in. She speaks very quickly (online notes are a must) and conveys not only archaeological evidence, but her analysis of said evidence (great for exams). And yes, she does interpretive dance at one point.

The material: This class covers about 4000 years of ancient civilzation, from Ancient Mesopotamia to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The class is split up by the midterm into two groupings of civilizations: the Ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Aegeans before the midterm, and the Greeks and Romans afterwards. The class centers around analyzing specific artifacts from each civilization through formal, social-historical, and iconographical lenses.

The work: Participation in discussion is mandatory for this class, and attendance is taken every time. Readings are assigned through CCLE each week, and the discussions are often led along a breakdown of these and the lecture of the week. The readings can be pretty dense and long, but ultimately become useful for the midterm and final. The textbook is not really necessary other than having a secondary study guide, and can be found on lib.gen. There is one multi-page paper in the Chicago style that requires a museum visit to the Getty Villa, which is free and beautiful to look at.

The exams: There is one midterm and one final, each identical in structure and non-cumulative. There are two parts: a few identifications of artifacts (title, artists, location of discovery, approx. date), and two long essays about a SINGLE artifact each. If you use flashcards and actually attend lecture, these should not be too difficult in the long run. Prof. Quigley provides a study guide slideshow before each exam that contains a photo and all the required identification info for every artifact that may be tested.

She is a funny and witty lecturer. There is a lot of memorization for the class, and in retrospect the readings weren't very necessary and her lecture content should be enough to get through the class.

Professor Kennedy is always prepared and is clearly fascinated by what she teaches. This class requires a fast typer and quick memorizer. So email me if you decide to take the class and need the required book at geraldbruin@g.ucla.edu

Art History 20 is not only easy, but incredibly interesting. The entire class in a nutshell is learning about the individual aspects of pieces of art in the given era. Professor KQ is incredibly fast with giving out information, so I highly recommend typing all notes. The midterm and final are unit based, so the final isn't cumulative. There is one essay for the class, but it's 3-5 pages and includes a museum trip. The midterm and final study guide is a powerpoint of 35-40 slides with art pieces that could be tested on. All you have to do is memorize the pieces and you basically have an A in the course. If memorization isn't your thing, don't take the class. If it is, it truly isn't a lot to memorize and is incredibly fun. KQ makes the class amazing! I would take it again if I could.

Professor Kennedy-Quigley is my favorite professor this quarter. I am only a freshman, and am not even done with the class yet, but I felt the need to give a great review. She engages the class really well with all of her lectures. Not only are the lectures the exact material you need, but also they are just really fun an interesting to go to regardless. There are no questions about what you need to know. She explains it really well in the beginning of the quarter, and there are reviews that list out the exact information you would need to know. There is one paper, but the paper is quite easy, and involves a fun trip, and helps your grade a ton if done well. I cannot express how good this class is, and how well professor Kennedy-Quigley teaches. I would recommend this class to anyone who needs a GE fulfilled. Regardless of your major, or what you're good at, this class and this professor are really for you.

Engaging and funny teacher: while there is a lot to memorize and remember, Professor Kennedy-Quigley clearly cares about her subject matter. If you do not like ancient history though, perhaps not the best class for you.

By far one of the best lecturers I've had at UCLA. Professor KQ is so passionate about art, that as a south major campus I couldnt help but find myself interested in the pieces she was discussing. In terms of work there is one paper, a midterm, and a final. The paper was graded easy, however the midterm and final can be a little overwhelming. My best advice would be to make a quizlet of the artwork and their basic ids as this is easy points on the essays. As for the actual essay portion I would recommend to WRITE A LOT. KQ goes in depth during lecture and merely reciting even half of that will get you a decent grade on the midterm. In short, take good notes during lecture , memorize ids, and study hard for the tests in order to succeed.

This class was really fun, I took it as a GE with no history in ancient art but still found it really interesting. The textbook isn't necessary, but it helped me alot. It explained the background and history of all the pieces which was really good since I was really unfamiliar. I am selling the textbook at half the price since it was super expensive. Email me @ cait514105@gmail.com if you're interested.

Professor QK is hilarious. Her lectures are extremely engaging and as someone else mentioned, she does do interpretive dancing! This is by far one of the best classes I have taken at UCLA (I am a senior and I am a south campus major). There is 1 midterm, 1 research paper, and 1 final but the final is just a second midterm because it is not cumulative. To get an A, just write down EVERYTHING she says in lecture (or type ... I typed because she a lot). Do this, and you will start to see themes and pick up on easy patterns. She gives a slide review for each test of about 40 slides that she can test from. There are 3 essays on each test: 2 essays where you are given a slide that has an artifact and you ID it then write as much as you can on it in 10 mins, the 3rd essay is a compare and contrast essay between two slides (you have to ID both) and you have 15 mins for that. Slide IDs consist of the name of the artifact or building, the architect (if there is one), the location, and the date. It may seem daunting to memorize that many, but it really is not. Start memorizing little by little about 5 days before the test and you will nail it. I made flash cards for the information. If you are able to know everything about a slide that Professor QK said in lecture and you write that down on your test, you will get an A. The research paper is aimed to help you grade and just expose you to more art (you are required to go to LACMA or the Getty or the Getty Village). The paper is maximum 5 pages long and it is really easy to write 5 pages on any of the art pieces she gives you the choice to choose from. Discussion is mandatory, but that is where you go over the overarching themes and patterns to hammer home the ideas presented in lecture. The only HW in the class was reading summaries due in discussion every week but the summaries were only 2-3 sentences. The textbook is not needed. Go to class, take good notes, and don't buy the textbook. Take this class if you can!

I took this class thinking it was going to be an easy A but it wasn't. I was deceived by the large percentage of people getting A's. I suppose they all memorized the information they were supposed to. I'm a south campus major, so I was more worried about learning math and chemistry than memorizing the dates, cities, names, and artists of 50 ancient sculptures. It's unfortunate that this is how you are graded, because otherwise I would have enjoyed the class. Professor KQ is nice and funny. But if you are hoping for an easy GE that allows you to focus on your more important classes, look elsewhere.