Sharon Gerstel is a passionate professor and she very much cares about her students and puffins. Her class is easier compared to others but at the same time requires a lot of work and effort. If you think this is an easy humanities GE where you can skip lecture, and view the slides online, think again. Her slides are often pictures with some descriptions, and the real information comes from what she says in lectures. Gerstel is known for changing the format of the class each time she teaches it. This is how my class broke down grade wise.

20% Section
20% Paper 1
20% Midterm
20% Paper 2
20% Final

(1) Section attendance is mandatory, as well as participating in the class discussion. At most you should contribute one thing each class, and make it look as if you care. Also the TAs give out short assignments that are easy and are graded if you completed the work fully. It should be noted that in section you focus more on certain pieces of art and themes compared to the large survey in lecture.

(2) The first paper is an analytical paper in which you read the Sacred and Profane by Eliade and connect it to works of art examined in the first half of the course. The professor's rubric stresses good use of grammar and structure so have you paper looked at either by the TA, writing center, or friend.

(3) The second paper is a thematic paper in which you connect art from the past, and how it being appropriated by groups today. In this case it was how iconography from the medieval period was being used by white supremacist groups. This paper was not that hard, and as log as you can show a logical connection you should do well.

(4) The exams are not a joke if you do not take them seriously and study beforehand. The exam entails looking at eight images in which you correctly identify them, name their style/art period, and then write five important things about them. Sounds easy right? Wrong! There are over fifty images that you need to study for each of the tests, and many of them look and sound alike. Also not all important things are equal as you will only get points for ideas that Gerstel thinks are important. You can be right about talking about Hagia Sophia, but since you left out the fact that the tiles symbolize the different regions of the Byzantine empire you only get partial credit. I was shocked when I got an 81 on my midterm after leaving the lecture hall thinking it was a joke. In fact the average for the midterm was in the high 70s- low 80s range. However this purposeful to get you to understand how to study, and the rest of the class basically prepares you for the final.
Overall, this class a great GE, but you should understand that you need to put in effort to get an A. To do well on the exams study throughout the quarter by making flash cards and studying in groups. Go to office hours, to get a sense of what your TAs think is important. If Rachel Weiss or Miranda Saylor are teaching take them because they are awesome TAs who are willing to help their students out. Lastly the class has a weird grading scale where your final grade is partly based on a trend line. If you go to office hours, show that you care, improve on the second paper, and final exam, you grade will be bumped up.

I took this class as a G.E. and I was met with more workload than I expected. There's a lot of reading, although nothing too out of the ordinary for North Campus courses, and you really have to study for those tests. It's mostly all memorization and there's two papers. The T.A.'s are really cool and easy graders. Professor Gerstel gives you more information during lectures than you'll be able to type down, but even if you don't do the textbook readings, the textbook has almost everything you'll need to know to study for tests (although I suggest actually fully reading the textbook if you can, it's very fascinating). Aside from that, I would highly recommended taking this class! The professor is extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic about medieval art and by the end of the course I was super imterested in the subject as well! These kind of classes make me wonder why I'm a South Campus major in the first place.

I really liked this class. I heard that art history was boring, but needed a GE, and was pleasantly surprised. The lectures were fun, and Gerstel is funny. She also offers extra credit. The TAs all seemed pretty cool. A midterm, a final, 2 essays, and participation, all 20% of the grade. Definitely would take again.

Prior to this course, I had not taken any type of art history class - I think that this was a nice class for beginners. All the TAs had the same slides in discussion sections and were very helpful (definitely try to get Miranda Saylor). It's obvious that Professor Gerstel loves art history and medieval art and she is very knowledgeable but she speaks very fast and the lecture slides often do not contain information other than a picture, artist, and date so I would suggest typing notes instead of writing. She posts lecture slides after class and they are useful when studying for the exams - I found that the best way to study art pieces was through flashcards with a picture on the front and then information on the back since tests consist of the identification of 8 works + a short essay. It's an easy class if you are good at memorization, but you have to go to lecture in order to get information on the works as they are not bruincasted and discussion sections are mandatory. I would definitely take another course with Professor Gerstel if given the chance.

I ended up really enjoying this class Professor Gerstel makes it possible for you to succeed by handing out or emailing the images you should know by the end of the week. I felt like this and the flashcards idea that she implemented really helped the majority of us! If you are worried about taking this class don't be; if you put in even some effort you should be fine!

Prior to this class, I had never taken an Art History course. This is a good class to begin with if you are interested in learning about the different components that might be common across a time period. Professor Gerstel cares about her students and does genuinely want the best for them. There are multiple extra credit opportunities throughout the quarter. I highly recommend going to them because not only do they boost your grade, some of them are engaging and insightful. This class expanded my knowledge on medieval art and how the past relates to the present. The tests aren't too difficult, as long as you begin preparing beforehand and memorize key information. Also, I found it difficult to take notes with pen and paper during lecture and opted for taking notes with my laptop because Professor Gerstel does tend to talk extremely quickly. Going to lecture is imperative because the grading on tests will prioritize information from section and lecture over information found in the textbook. All in all, the material and the professor are both quite amazing.

Professor Gerstel is an excellent instructor. It is clear that Professor Gerstel cares about the learning of her students, and her lectures are engaging and light-hearted. There are many works of art that are studied in this class, but they are all beautiful. Although some students may view the following statement as a con, I absolutely appreciated that, for certain works of art, Professor Gerstel went beyond the information provided in the textbook, providing a far more wholesome learning experience. I also loved that many of the images on her powerpoints were images taken by herself.

With that said, the distribution of points in the class is very fair. The overall grade in the class depends on five components. There are two exams (Exam 1 and Exam 2 that correspond to a "Midterm" and Final"), two 3-5 paged essays, and participation in discussion. Each component is weighed equally - 20% of your grade.

Exam 1 and Exam 2 are relatively similar in format: identification and analysis of 8 works of art. Prior to both exams, Professor Gerstel will provide you with a study guide containing approximately 30-40 works of art that you should be able to identify and analyze/interpret in its cultural context. Yes, 30-40 works of art seems like a lot, but as long as you take notes during lecture and study accordingly, you should be fine. I must emphasize that the main points that Professor Gerstel is looking for in your analysis on the exams are points that she highlights in lecture - a major reason as to why you should be going to lecture.
Note: Professor Gerstel speaks rather quickly, and although she posts her slides, they do not have words on them. If you have a laptop, bring it to class so you can quickly type the points that she highlights in class.

For the writing assignments, the best approach is to have an ample amount of evidence along with sufficient and MEANINGFUL commentary. Do not include meaningless fluff in the writing assignments, and try to make your point as clear as possible. Generally, the writing assignments take on the form of an argumentative essay. This may change for upcoming quarters, but the first writing assignment is based on the teachings of Eliade (which you will learn about in class) and the second writing assignment is more broad (for Winter Quarter 2018, the task was to analyze how and why Medieval Art has been incorporated into modern usage).

Finally, participation in section really depends on your TA. Discussions during section should run smoothly as long as you (and your peers) have done the assigned section readings.

Overall, Medieval Art with Professor Gerstel was an absolute delight. As a STEM major, learning about Medieval Art was a welcome break from all the science. This class is by no means an "easy GE" (Ds and Fs on the first exam were not uncommon), but the workload is manageable, and if you are interested in art history, the works of art are mesmerizing and worthy of appreciation.

Honestly I hated this class but not because of the professor. There was a lot of memorization involved for the midterm and the final. For the midterm and the final she would give around 25-40 images to study and then test you on only 8. For those 8 images you'd have to identify the image, time era, and then give information about it. You are assigned two essays that are fairly easy and short. I recommend bringing your laptop to class because Gerstel talks really fast and you never have enough time to write down everything she says. She gives some extra credit opportunities so make sure to attend those. Start studying for the tests early on because there is a lot of information to cram. Rachel Weiss is a great TA definitely take her

Professor Gerstel is possibly one of the nicest professors I have ever had. She does everything to help people succeed in this class. When I took this class during the spring I think she gave out a total of 18 extra credit points on the final/midterm. I would definitely take another class with her.

This class is an easy A IF you actually go to class and take notes. Gerstel does post her lecture slides but they consist entirely of pictures so you won't get anything out of them. She lectures quickly so make sure you bring a computer to write down everything she says about the artworks that are going to be tested.

Be ready to write very quickly on the midterm and final because time is limited and her exams are relatively long (it'll take you the whole time) but they are easy if you actually went to lecture and paid attention.