I feel like taking Art History I was very beneficial to me. I had taken the Art Experience last year which helped with some of the material, but for the most part it was new to me and I think we were taught very thoroughly of each time period and about its culture. I really enjoyed learning about the art associated with each era and how it changed from place to place.
I do think at first the class was a bit overwhelming because there was a lot of difficult readings and questions to do in a short period of time along with the weekly blogs. However Professor Waldon was really helpful and listened to our feedback and adjusted the workload accordingly. It then became much more manageable and I actually enjoyed doing it more once I knew I could finish. I also really liked having a project instead of taking a test. I feel like this was much more effective in showing what we learned and presenting it in a creative way. I think if we had tests I would have just been cramming information into my head to remember it for the test and once it was written down it would be erased from my memory. I really think that doing hands on projects helped to cement this knowledge more permanently into my brain because I was actually applying the information that I learned.
If I could change something about the class I would have to say I wish it was a little more discussion based instead of just a lecture. I think that would help engage the students more not only to keep everyone focused, but also to retain the knowledge a bit better. It also might have been good since it was such an early class. Overall all though I think between the slides and information taught in class with the textbook information and images, the material was taught very clearly and effectively. It made for an enjoyable semester.
