ARTH 2471

Very interesting class, gets pretty vulgar by the end... which keeps things interesting. Pretty difficult workload but standard for this type of class. Anne Williams is a great T.A.

really interesting class, as it teaches you about the culture of the second half of the 20th century. singerman is an engaging and occasionally funny lecturer, but sometimes it's hard to figure out what you're meant to take notes on. the reading is mostly unnecessary as long as you go to the reviews before the exams. be prepared to study your ass off to memorize images, though.

The class is slow to start, and we fell a month behind the syllabus and Singerman, despite his brilliance and passion for the subject, speaks in abstractions and repetitions that are hard to filter and lead to the course having more work than it should have. Having a good TA is necessary for a good grade especially if you like a well structured class.

Good class, a lot of memorization of slides (date, artist, name). Midterm, final, 1 small quiz, and 1 paper. Lectures not entirely necessary but discussion is a huge help.

Singerman is a brilliant lecturer that is obviously passionate about what he teaches. However, the course covers A LOT of material. Be prepared to memorize hundreds of images. That said, he usually chooses images that we discussed thoroughly in lecture and discussion, but there is not a slide list of images you have for the midterm/final. Rather you are expected to study all of the images he covered in class. Over all, I had a good experience with the class and learned a lot. I would definitely recommend it.

If I could take this class every semester, I would. Both the professor and the TA made the material easy to understand, even though most people are turned off by contemporary art. Singerman's pace during lectures and approachability were awesome, and the class gives you all the resources you need to succeed. My only problem is that sometimes lectures are mildly disorganized, so notes are hard to take and study from because of jumping around.

If you think that an artist shitting into a can and selling it is art, take this class. Otherwise don't. The grade distribution chart for this class is not accurate anymore - the ones from some of the earlier years seem to better reflect it now. This was the first art history course I took after AP Art History in high school. I loved my high school class, and I know how to look at and appreciate art. The problem lies with what you are willing to accept as art. To me, there is a significant difference between "art" and something "expressed artistically." Just because something is in a gallery doesn't mean it's art. If I were to walk into a gallery, extremely drunk, and piss in a corner, flick off anyone watching me and then fall over and pass out and some people in this class would applaud me for what they would call "performance art" or even better "interpretive dance"... Singerman's lectures are as described, occasionally funny (which means a slight chuckle maybe once a week), but also remarkably disorganized. I learn best from lecturing professors. I did extremely well in Ancient Greece with Lendon (which is made out to be a much harder class on this website), but found that in this class I was at a loss for what to take notes on, he simply talked a lot and very quickly. There are vague connections between Singerman's points that he certainly sees and understands, but the thought it takes to make them makes it exceedingly difficult to remember the rapid-fire, non-sequitor, laundry-list of things he says. The textbook is complete garbage - no where in the entire thing is there a single thesis statement, or anything close to a drive statement. It is written in very much the vague style in which Singerman speaks. I had a 4.0 before this class; now I don't. If you liked AP Art History, take a class on art before 1900.

General class information:
1) excessive reading assignments which don't help you grasp the material and you cease to do after the first week
2) in my discussion sections we had a weekly writing assignment consisting of term definitions (words that take a paragraph to explain), slide comparisons, and rather open questions related to what we are viewing that week
3) you grade in the class is 1/3 midterm, 1/3 final, and 1/3 discussion section (your discussion section grade components depend on your TA, but everyone had one 3-5 page paper due at the end of Thanksgiving Break that was 25% of your section grade). The midterm and final were of similar format. There is a term identification section, slide comparison section, and an essay section. The midterm was 5 terms, 3 comparisons, and 1 essay. The final was 6 terms, 5 comparisons, and 2 essays.
4) discussion section is an absolute must as it is the only place where you can get rational treatment of terms and slide comparisons in the form that you can properly analyze. Section lets you un-weave a little bit of the massive web Singerman weaves every lecture.
5) Camille is awesome even though I didn't care for the class at all. Try to get her if you decide to not listen to me and take the course.

Bottom-line:

Don't take this class.