Stella is a really nice professor, but I'm just not interested in this subject.

I took it as an "easy" GE and honestly, it takes more work than I want to put into it. I would say the readings really are mandatory because there's a constant possibility of pop quizzes, both in lecture and discussion. Some of the longer readings can be around 25 pages and you'll be tested on some pretty particular details.

Midterm and final are in class essays and you're given 6 possible prompts ahead of time, from which 2 are picked. Not a lot of outside of class writing, just one paper worth 5% of your grade. Maybe I'm just lazy, but it's really hard to motivate myself to study for this class. If all of this sounds good to you though, go for it.

If you're interested in the subject, I'm sure you'd like it because it's a well-taught class, but if you just want an easy GE, go with Scand 50.

Edit- I’ve now finished the class, so if you do end up taking it:
Since you have to go to class anyways for the quizzes, I’d recommend taking good notes on her lectures- she posts the slides but they’re mostly pictures so you need good notes to go back and know what they’re about. Honestly, I think it’s probably inevitable you’ll fall asleep in this class at least once, but try to make it one of the guest lecturer days, since these seem to be less likely to be related to the exams- the movies are still tested!

Overall, my advice for this class would be to just do the work and be able to answer every part of the questions she gives you to prep for the midterm/final. There's no easy way around it.

the worst class I have ever had in UCLA. don't take it especially for the non art history major student. for art history major student, try to find other class to replace this one. this class is so boring and you have to do lots of things for this class. lots of reading to do and you even need to go back to read the reading again and again. it is not helpful at all. the professor uses the slides but there is no word in the slides just some pictures. it is hard for you to review before the test. lots of unhelpful quizzes and work.

If you're looking for an interesting AND/OR easy this is NOT the class to take.
I regret doing it. She just talks and rambles on about stuff you are supposed to take notes on and then use in your essay questions.

There are quizzes in EVERY lecture based on the readings which are dry and long plus quizzes in discussion section.

PLUS a 5 page paper that is ONLY 5% of your grade due 10th week.

You get 6 questions for the midterm and final, out of which 2 show up for the actual exam.

Waste of effort and time.

This is by far the worst class I've taken at UCLA. Her lectures are beyond boring, her slides pretty much only have pictures on them and she talks really fast so it is impossible to write everything down, which is very important in preparing for the midterm/final. Class and lecture are mandatory as there could be a quiz in each lecture. Preparing for the midterm and final is a huge pain as she gives you 6 essay prompts, 2 of which will be on the exam, but the prompts have about 10 subquestions to go along with the actual question which makes the prompt extremely confusing and difficult. HUGE BS class, definitely do not recommend.

Do not take this class unless you absolutely have to. As someone who isn't an Art History major, I found this class incredibly boring and uninteresting and therefore, it was extremely tough for me to study for this class.
The professor is nice I guess, but I thought she was a bad lecturer. She only shows pictures on her powerpoint slides and talks about them but she talks fast and doesn't slow down, and she doesn't really highlight the main points we have to get down either. She also doesn't post her lectures online. She doesn't mind if you record her lectures though. She doesn't let you into the lecture if you arrive 10 minutes or more after it has begun. Also, once you leave lecture, she doesn't let you back in even if you just needed a quick bathroom break.

Discussion is mandatory and worth 20 percent of your grade so you probably should go. It could at least help your grade.

The midterm and final are pretty much the same, consisting of two essay questions which are both long and confusing (final is longer than midterm). There's a lot of points you have to address. I'm not sure if the professor or TA grades the exams. Honestly, just try and write as much as you can and hope for the best. The grading is pretty damn harsh.

There are pop quizzes both in lecture and discussion that are usually based off of the articles we have to read which are ridiculously boring and usually long. The quizzes are graded by your TA. Luckily my TA, Deglin, was an easy grader so just hope you get a good TA. Again I'm not sure if they are the ones who grade the exams or not though.

One final paper we had to write that was 5 pages long but I think she changes the prompt every quarter. Plus it was literally worth only 5% of your grade. The professor was saying how this was supposed to be a fun easy assignment which it wasn't at all. Also, I met this one person in class who is an art history major, and even she didn't like this class. Overall, I really don't recommend this class, but it's up to you.

I would not recommend this class at all to anyone looking for an easy, interesting GE. The professor's lectures are disengaging as her slides have no text, making it difficult to keep up with what she says. The readings are very long and tedious, but are essentially required as there are random quizzes in lecture along with quizzes in discussion based on images shown in one of the previous lectures. The midterm and final weren't too bad since Nair gave out 6 possible essay prompts from which she would choose 2, although each prompt had several questions that needed to be answered in our essays. Overall, this class was not my favorite and I would stay away from it as much as possible.

Trust me. DONT TAKE THIS BS CLASS. Way too harsh of grading on exams, quiz in lectures with no makeup, the material is taught in typical dry slideshows, TA's in the back of the lecture hall watching peoples computers and will approach you for doing anything other than taking notes. If I haven't already convinced you to avoid this class then let me tell you about the exams. In the hour and fifteen minutes given for the midterm, you are required to answer two essay questions. Each question is comprised of at least 10 sub questions. IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO ANSWER ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS within the given amount of time. You will be marked down if you do not hit all of them well enough and its not just two or three measly points, I hadn't gone into enough detail on ONE of the questions and got a D on the essay. Save yourself the time, stress, energy, and grade by not taking this class.

I wouldn't describe this class as an easy "kick your feet back" and do nothing GE. This class requires a decent amount of reading but there are in class quizzes on this reading and she does these randomly. So you have to pay attention to details in the reading. The class includes quizzes, participation, a midterm, a final paper and a final. The midterm and final both consist of two essay questions, the final is just longer. She gives you a list of 6 potential questions to study from and she picks two for the tests. The final paper is also relatively easy, only 5 pages. Overall this class was an easy A if you payed attention in lecture and discussions and did the reading.

Honestly, if you are looking for a professor who will hand out As to whomever, this is not the class for you. Art History 27 was not an easy A whatsoever, but it was a rewarding class to take. Dr. Nair genuinely cares about each of the students' learning experiences and was always helpful. If you go to her office hours before the midterm and final, she will go over each question with you and tell you points you should mention.
The class consisted of a midterm, worth 30% of the grade, and a final, worth 35% of the grade. There was also a paper, worth 5%, and participation/discussion was the remaining 30%. On the midterm and final, she gives out six essay questions prior and puts two of them on the exam. There are five to seven subquestions within the question itself, but it was not as bad as some of the other reviews make it seem. As long as you do the readings and answer the prompt directly, you will do fine on the exams. For the most part, the majority of the six questions were straightforward (one or two required a bit more thinking). In addition, there were pop quizzes in both the lecture and discussion, but none of them were difficult. As long as you do the readings, even just skim them, you will get 100%.
In regards to Dr. Nair and the TAs, they were exceptional. Dr. Nair was very tolerant of tardiness towards the beginning of the quarter, but then implemented a rule, that if a student showed up fifteen minutes late, they could not come into class. In addition, if someone left class, they would not be let back in. The reason for this rule was because people kept walking in and out of lectures while there were guest speakers there. As soon as people found out we had a guest speaker, which meant no pop quiz, they left; I can't even imagine how embarrassing that must have been for Dr. Nair. The TAs also sat towards the back of the class to ensure that people were using technology for the right reasons, which was reasonable (it was very distracting).
While this class required the most amount of work and reading out of the other classes I took this quarter, this class was the one I learned the most from. I would definitely take it again.

Do not take this class if you're just looking for an easy GE. You will have about 20 pages of reading to do before each lecture and the final will require quite a bit of studying. However, coming from a South Campus major, this class is very interesting and I ended up enjoying it. Professor Nair is very sweet and passionate about the topic. I would recommend going to her office hours even if you don't have a specific question because she has some fascinating stories. As far as the class goes, it's very interesting because you learn about Ancient American cultures that aren't typically taught about in detail.

While the midterm and the final require a lot of studying they end up being fairly easy because she gives you possible essay prompts a couple weeks beforehand. Out of the 6 essay prompts she will end up picking 2 for the exam, making it easy to do well as long as you're prepared.

Overall, this class is not easy but it's definitely interesting and valuable in the long run.