ARTH 1051

This is a four-credit class for a reason--there is a LOT of material, but if you invest the time necessary, you'll do well. My TA, Veronica, was extremely helpful with studying and graded fairly. Professor Dobbins is an entertaining lecturer and finds funny and entertaining ways (such as pictures of himself) to help you remember the material. I'd recommend it if you have the time to invest for the heavy studying required for the quizzes and exams.

This class is so incredibly hard. So much material. If you are not familiar with how to discuss art historically already, this class is difficult as there is not much instruction on that, though you are graded on your ability to do so. Amazing lecturer and interesting material, but this class is very time consuming. Also, there are no papers and the exams are so hard. Very memorization based. Start studying day one.

I absolutely loved this class. Professor Dobbins is very passionate about the course and he tries his best to involve students in the lecture and keep class interesting. I honestly didn't read very much of the text. This is probably why I only got a B. Do not take this class if you are not interested in learning about art and architecture. You will probably find the classes boring. Otherwise, I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind putting several hours of work into learning the material. The dates and details can be overwhelming if you aren't diligent. I would also recommend Alicia Dissinger as the TA. She is great at breaking down the material so it is easier to understand and memorize. This was my hardest class, but it was also my favorite.

Dr. Dobbins is very passionate and uses his personal experience to illustrate his points. There were about 150 or so pieces of art to memorize per exam (final not cumulative), so start studying early - the class was enjoyable until I had to cram for the midterm.

Dobbins is a great professor and it is obvious that he is passionate about the subject matter and about teaching it to his students. The material is interesting but sometimes can seem like too much to study. Paying attention in lecture and doing the readings outside of class will give you a good understanding of the material. Tests and quizzes aren't as hard as they appear to be as long as you put in the time to study. Overall, great class for an introductory Art History class.

Since the course covers everything from Paleolithic cave drawings to the beginning of Renaissance art, there is a LOT of material to learn. Although this means that you need to memorize information for the 2 quizzes and the 2 exams, Dobbins was good about only testing us on objects that we had talked a lot about in lecture and that were representative of/significant to a specific time period. I did well without doing the readings, because Dobbins covers everything in class. He does a good job of trying to engage students, even though there were around 100 of us. I think that this is the perfect option for someone who has never taken an art history course before to see if they like the subject. The one thing that kind of surprised me was how much architecture we covered, especially once we reached the Romanesque and Gothic periods.

He grades super harshly. Kind of a boring lecture if you're not into art stuff. If you are, he's fun to talk to.

Definitely not an easy class, but not a weed out. Must have at least 300 flashcards if you want over a C.

Didn't like the lecturer. Exams had way too much material to know (~100), considering he'd ask about 5 of them. Discussions were interesting though. Too difficult for a 1000 level class

Well worth the 4 credits. It is a huge amount of material that is covered. However, it is a pretty good overview of the Western history of art (not incredibly global) from prehistoric times to the beginnings of the Renaissance. This class inspired me to become an Art History major.

A nice thing is that you don't really have to read the book if you go to class because he repeats the book pretty verbatim. The discussion are interesting, but pretty disconnected from the actual class. However, you really do need to study extensively for the midterm and final and don't really have to worry much besides that.

I wouldn't recommend this class. I went into this class thinking it couldn't be that difficult since it mostly requires memorization. However, even just quizzes require that you memorize the name, date, location, and significance of upwards of 200 art pieces and terms. Each quiz required me to start studying probably a week in advance, which I would never do for any other class. Also, each quiz has about 10 questions on it, meaning that you memorized about 190 things that you were not quizzed on and if you can't remember one art piece, your grade is greatly affected. Although I've enjoyed art history in the past and I've never had a problem with memorizing things and I even really liked Professor Dobbins, the quizzes and exams in this class require you to know way too much information, making it really hard to get a good grade.