ARTH 1051

This is not the class for you. Unless you are the most passionate art history buff ever, this class is pointless and difficult. You have to memorize upwards of 200 pieces of art, their dates, locations and significance. The lectures for this class seem to be four hours long and the exams have so few questions on them that missing one destroys your grade. This is not an easy humanities elective, so prepare yourself before enrolling.

Professor is kind of funny but the class is so boring and tedious. You don't have to do any of the reading, so really its just memorize hundreds of works of art for each quiz and test every so often. I've probably made 1000 flashcards for this class. Just don't take it if you're not actually into art history. I like art, but art history is very different.

DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE.
I took it to satisfy the fine arts requirement in the College, and thought that since it was a 1000 level course, it wouldn't be too hard. I was wrong.
There are two quizzes, one midterm, and one final. The course covered the beginning of human history (Paleolithic) to just before the Renaissance.

The quizzes are incredibly tough, as you often have to memorize a hundred different works of art. In addition to memorizing the name of the piece, you have to memorize: the date (name of the period and the actual years), significance of the work, artist, technique, location, artistic style, how it's an example of the period, medium, material, and several other details to secure a decent grade. As I said, you're expected to memorize over 100 different works of art, but you're only tested on 5 for each quiz. In addition, you only get 3 minutes to write down as much information as you possibly can. The TAs grade very harshly, and my own TA admitted that it's impossible to earn a perfect score on any of the slide IDs or exams.

The midterm was impossible to study for. It required you to compare the most obscure works of art, and was designed to test your memorization skills, not your understanding of the art. The slide IDs are worth a ridiculous amount, so if you mess one up, you've basically messed your entire grade up.

Professor Dobbins clearly understands the material and gives very detailed lectures. However, he often does not reinforce those details. In addition, his lectures often have information that are not mentioned in the textbook. Either that, or there are key details in the textbook that he omits in lecture. I found that you should do the readings before lecture, that way you're up to speed on what's going on. I would not recommend skipping a single lecture. I thought him to be rather boring - he doesn't make the art very engaging, and he's a dry lecturer.

Section is worth 25% of your grade I think, and attendance is mandatory. Your experience depends on your TA. Section doesn't do much to "teach" you about the art. If you only go to lecture and omit the textbook readings, you will feel very behind in section. Combining the textbook and lectures make it a lot easier to participate in section, and (I think) improves your understanding a lot better than just reading or just going to class.

I read all these reviews for this class, and didn't think anything of it. But DO NOT take this course. It is unnecessarily difficult, and as a 4 credit class, will ultimately end up doing more to harm your GPA than to help it. The difficulty of this class is something I'd expect from an upper level course, not from a 1000 level class. This class is not worth the work.

That said, if you do plan to take the course, I would recommend the following:
* Read the textbook before each lecture. Take notes from the textbook on a quizlet file, and add on to these notes each lecture
* Bring at least one caffeinated drink with you each lecture. You'll need it.
* MEMORIZE EARLY. This is not a class where you can cram the information in the night before. I know some people who did that for the final, and it did not work out well for them. I would suggest memorizing at least a week in advance so that the information sticks.
* Form a study group with at least one person. Inevitably, you will miss some information in your notes. Creating a study group really helps snag those extra points for the IDs.
* Go to office hours immediately after the first quiz, and go over what you did wrong with the TA. You might be missing one or two seemingly minor details which could really impact your grade.

Again, do not take this course. There is too much work for a 1000 level course, and if you're looking for an easy class to satisfy those requirements, this is not the course for you. I will admit that I learned a lot about art history and architecture - I had 0 art knowledge coming in, and this class definitely improved my understanding. You should only take this class if you're willing to dedicate a significant amount of time and energy to this course (approximately 10 hrs/week). Audit the course if you just want to learn, because it will crush your GPA. If you're looking for an easy course, stay far far away from ARTH 1051 with Dobbins. It's unnecessarily difficult, and you'll be cursing yourself when the final inevitably rolls around.