I have yet to come across a professor as nice and fair as Professor Brown in my entire time at UCLA. While the course reader was dense, expensive, and rather useless, he makes it extremely easy to get an A in the class with his lecture notes (especially useful when you tend to not go to class). They're 25 dollars and you can pick them up in Ackerman. He takes the time to meet with his students and make their lives easier. He even listened to my entire section's complaints about the harsh grading of the TA (who he spoke to and again made our lives easier). On the whole, this class is a dream come true. You read the professor's notes (think spark notes), you get the essay questions for the midterm and final in advance, and the lectures are not totally boring (Professor Brown is a funny one).

The course reader was rather excessive, expensive, and useless. The course lecture notes, however, were divine. Definitely pay the 25 bucks and make the trip to Ackerman for those. The exams were pretty straightforward and covered the major topics in class. Brown was an awesome guy and I would definitely be willing take another class with him in the future. He would play random music before the start of every lecture, so that was entertaining. The TA was incredibly sweet but was difficult to understand at times. Would definitely recommend this class to anyone interested in Buddhist art and history.

Haha. I wouldn't say this is an EXCELLENT class, it is alright. Professor Brown has a good personality. He tries to make jokes and he likes to give his two-cents about the artifacts presented. It is apparent that he has a lot of knowledge on the subject, but not much passion. The only reason I say that he doesn't exude much passion is because he seems to poke fun at some of the stories and pieces. I don't have any complaints about him, however when it comes to choosing a discussion, try to research the T.A. My T.A wasn't the best. Bless her heart, she was the cutest thing ever and seemed to know the subject, but she didnt speak very good English so it made discussion very useless and boring. For the midterm and final, just try to remember dates and the main story behind whatever he is presenting. There is a good amount of preparation before the midterm and final, so I wouldnt worry to much. Also, he clearly states in the beginning of the quarter, "You can buy the course reader, but my tests are straight from my lecture notes, which are sold in the textbook store." TAKE HIS WORD. The course reader is expensive, but not very necessary. I mean, it will help with following the lectures, buuuuuut way to expensive for as little information it provides.

EXCELLENT CLASS!!! This was one of my favorite classes this quarter! Not only is Professor Brown a fabulous professor clearly very knowledgeable about this subject matter, but the curriculum delves into the different religions of Southeast Asia, giving you an excellent schooling in religion and art. The two are very interwined most of the time, but this class really emphasizes that connection and highlights the religious themes present in the art studied.
Anyway, my advice for the class includes ALWAYS going to lecture (he provides excellent info and is entertaining, and it's useful to have the visual reference about which religious monument is which because he posts the slides online but they're mainly just pictures without text describing what you're looking at), buying the lecture notes at Ackerman (I know - more $$, but they're SO worth it! It covers what he discussed in class and even some stuff he forgets to mention that's important/useful), and attending discussions (most of the TAs have straightforward, streamlined discussions that cover loose ends from lecture -- they do more than just rehashing material already covered). Basically, be a good student for this class. But one way to cut back on work is ignoring the coursereader - I read (no joke) 10 pages of the 580. It's really just additional material, maybe useful for art history students, but totally unnecessary for success in the course.
Take this course and you won't regret it! I'm not an art history major at all, but I LOVE the class and am probably going to get an A!