Very interesting class, Professor Slyomovics is very knowledgeable about the subject matter and I learned a lot from her. She is not good at all with computers though and will definitely need someone to help her most lectures. The grader, Professor Farley, is a really cool, great guy. His lecture was very enjoyable and interesting. Grading breakdown: 20% oral presentation, 30% midterm, 50% final. The part that scares everyone the most is the oral presentation - It is just a retelling of the part of 1001 Nights that was assigned for the lecture. She randomly picks people every time. This isn't lecture and the stories are easy reads so just do your reading and you should be fine. You aren't really graded on quality of storytelling, just don't go up there and say you don't know it. The papers are doable, they are just two and a half page essays that you can pick the prompt for. 4 essays for the midterm and 6 for the final. Also she doesn't use slides so just write down what's on the board and all the discussion in class to help with the essays.

It was a pretty easy class if you're a good writer. Slyomovics may come off as sometimes unapproachable but she's actually very concerned about her student's learning, and is very smart. The reading is pretty heavy, but the way her exams are structured, you can choose which readings you want to focus on, so you can skim other readings. I believe she is a great professor, and even though I didn't necessarily find the material interesting at first, I was engaged in her lectures because she is a good lecturer. I would definitely suggest taking this class, either if you want to learn more about visual anthropology, or if you're looking for a class that isn't too difficult.

The class was fascinating. I learned quite a bit about the field of visual anthropology and the history of photography. Slyomovics gives you a lot of freedom to engage with the readings and coursework and express your ideas through all of her assignments. She allows creativity and doesn't force students into any real prescribed formats for her class. She is, however, a stickler for correct grammar, spelling, and citations. Plan ahead to attend her office hours, even if you are like me and had to skip part of another class to do so. It will save you time at the end of the quarter. We ended up waiting in an hour long line to get her to sign off on our project proposals (mandatory). BTW, get your proposal signed during office hours ahead of time to save yourself the headache.

Slyomovics arranges her class throughout the quarter by themes and this helps to see broader contexts. All of the readings and websites and suggested field trips are useful for the exams and papers. If you are a lazy ass, you will most likely still get an OK grade, but if you actually care about learning and put some effort into the class and the materials, you will gain a ton of valuable knowledge... Its one of those classes where its totally up to you.