While a very engaging lecturer, Professor Black is not that helpful when it comes to preparing for exams. If you are deciding to take this class, make sure to note down word for word what she says when she mentions "Five Points" about something in lecture because she will expect you to quote her on the in class, closed book exam. If she goes over them too quickly, feel free to raise your hand and ask her to repeat herself as she will be looking for this information.

I took Renaissance and Baroque art with Prof. Black, and she is a really awesome professor. She is caring and knowledgeable. But this class really has tons of readings and memorization. If you are looking for an easy GE, don't take this class. It is difficult but enjoyable.

This class was absolutely amazing. One of the best art history lecturers at the school. She is so passionate that it makes the class thoughtful and inspiring.

Grade breakdown:
15% Section - be sure to participate for a good grade.
10% 3-4 page essay on an artwork from the Getty. You get choice of about 5.
25% Longer essay (5-8 pages?) on a methodology.
50% Shared between midterm and final. Either 20-30 or 25-25. No real slide ID's, except for in the essays. You need to write quickly, but as long as you went to all the lectures, the essays weren't that difficult.

I would definitely recommend taking this class.

I loved this class! Although it was hard work, it was so interesting if you like art from the era or if you're just the least bit interested. Professor Black is so passionate, and really cares about getting her love of the art across to the students. The TAs were also very good. The readings were lengthly but interesting, and worth doing for the class. Take this class!

You would be hard pressed to find a professor as passionate about what she does as Professor Black. If you're the kind of person who appreciates this quality, by all means take this class. Don't think it's a walk in the park though; you do need to attend lecture and take good notes to do well on the midterm and final, but I personally enjoyed going. You need to read most of the assigned reading, which I know you don't want to hear, but most of them are interesting. For goodness' sake, don't buy the book on Writing about Art. It is a waste of money!

I loved this class!! I really liked going to lectures because Professor Black speaks very clearly and teaches so effectively. I always learned so much after going to lectures. There are two papers, a midterm, and final. For the midterm and final, it seems overwhelming at first because she gives a study guide with about a hundred paintings on it, but don't stress about it since the paintings that she chooses are the general ones in that you wouldn't have to worry about the little details. I took this winter quarter last year, and I still remember the techniques and other things we learned in this class. This was definitely one of my favorites.

I absolutely loved her class. She has a very effective way of lecturing, especially for an art history class. This class is not hard if you are willing to put the effort. It's very interesting if you appreciate the masters of the realm of art!

As an junior Art History major taking my last lower division requirement, I still learned a great deal from this course. Black's emphasis on methodologies such as psychoanalysis, deconstruction, feminism, post-colonialism, etc. was a really brilliant way to divide the weekly material. There is a lot of material, however, and I found the work load in this course way more than some upper divisions I have taken. There is also a lot of writing in this course, and there are no research papers. Black requires memorization of slides, but she isn't nit-picky about dates - the slide IDS are only one point, which makes it easier to focus on the concepts that are being put forth in the class, and to focus on the ideas in the readings.

Downside: I would say in general, during lecture, she tends to focus on formalist aspects and will say things like "he is one of the greatest painters" or "the most influential" which, to me, sounds very redundant and not necessarily relevant. Also, I thought it was stupid that we did Semiotics/Deconstruction lumped together in the last week. Totally insane.