Came into this not knowing a single thing about art or architecture, but I felt like I came out with a bit more appreciation for it. Grade is based on discussion participation, pop quizzes (could be in discussion or lecture), midterm exam, final paper, and final exam. He posts lecture notes with bolded buildings which will be what the exams are based off of. He is the dullest lecturer and he mumbles a lot, but make sure to write down everything he says on those bolded buildings.

Took this class as a GE and honestly didn't pan out too badly. Managed to get full grades on all the quizzes without having to study for them (this was mostly a result of passively listening during lecture). Make sure to use the study aids as your primary resource - these are the only buildings you truly need to pay attention to. Office hours are useful if you didn't catch something he said in lecture. The TAs are extremely helpful and willing to share their resources and tips with you (I had Heather, she was great!). The exams are part rote memorization and part BS (you can get through them by just knowing the basic artistic movements)

Would recommend as a GE but definitely have to put a little effort in to get your grade.

The class actually turned out to be much more interesting than I thought it would be since it covered a lot of the social and historical aspects of architecture apart from the aesthetics part of it. He does produce great content, but his delivery is rather dull and it's really easy to fall asleep in class. The textbook was not necessary at all, but you will need to do the readings or at least skim them.

The only reason why I did well in this class is because I had a wonderful TA. Otherwise, good luck to ya. There are weekly quizzes in section that end up being a significant part of your grade (25% quizzes + 10% participation for going to section). According to the syllabus, the quizzes should have been on weekly outside readings (that didn't really pertain to class material in my opinion) but they ended up being mostly on stuff we talked about in lecture, which was manageable. Friends with other TAs however had different quizzes that were much more difficult and required religiously going over the readings and attending lecture (and retaining info) to get full credit.

The midterm and final aren't difficult if you can stay awake during lecture to take good notes and are able to memorize 25 ish works (name, date, architect(s), location) for slide identifications. Prof Upton is not an engaging lecturer so if you struggle to stay awake or pay attention as it is, don't take this class. I think I would have enjoyed the material more if I didn't dread going to lecture and listening to a man monotonously drone on about buildings.

TLDR: your TA will make or break your grade and Prof Upton isn't that great.

Selling the textbook (European Architecture, 1750-1890 by Bergdoll). Message me at **********