How is the Art History undergraduate program at CAS (NYU)?

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
1

Hi there,

I’m a rising junior planning to double major in Art History at CAS soon and I’ve been looking into the course offering list that the Department of Art History has available on their website. In my opinion, most of the classes seem to be very interesting. In addition, I notice that most (if not all) of the classes do not require recitation sessions, which I consider to be good for me because I actually don’t like to attend recitations. However, when I go to Rate my Professor to review the Art History faculty members I see comments like “He is the most confusing guy ever,” “she makes you memorize 60 painting names,” “the class is so damn boring,” and something along those lines. Honestly, I’m declaring Art History not only because I find it to be so interesting, but also because I believe it should be a relatively “easy” major; I’m already majoring in Psychology. In short, I would like to know the following:

  • How are Art History classes at CAS? Boring, interesting, long, short, funny?
  • How is the grading policy in MOST of the Art History classes? Is there a curve? Are there in-class, take home, or no midterm/final exams?
  • How many students are there in a regular classroom (lecture)?
  • Since most of the classes do not have a recitation session, do most of the professor interact with students in lecture?
  • Lastly, do professors take attendance?

I will gladly appreciate your answers and look forward to reading some of your thoughts. Thanks a lot dear NYU friends :slight_smile:

2

BTW, does anyone know what are the most difficult Art History classes? It would be so interesting to have them in mind :slight_smile:

3

D took modern art this semester. (She is a studio art major in Steinhardt.) It was a large lecture class taught by a professor that D liked. No recitation. Yes, she was expected to memorize titles, artists and date of about 60 or so pieces for the midterm and others for the final, but the ones students needed to memorize were indicated ahead of time. For the midterm and final you were expected to also write about several pieces in a critical way and to identify art movements, etc. D also had to write a 4 page and a 6 page paper and do an exhibition review. The class met twice a week for an hour and 15 minutes.

I would not declare the major just because you think it will be easy. Because it won’t be. I think that you are expected to think and write critically about art and that higher level classes will expect you to read a great deal about art/ and the role that artists and critics play in society. Many of the literature is very philosophical and will not be an not easy read.

4

Beautiful answer and exactly what I wanted to hear.