TA's were super nice. grading was really chill. extensions were almost always given as long you as communicated with TAs. lectures were a bit dense but the topics covered are really interesting and the professor's main goal was for the students to just enjoy the class and at the very least, find one thing they found interesting. midterm was a bit rough since it was timed but as long as you paid attention to the lectures(!!!), took notes, and did most of the readings you should be fine. weekly readings weren't terrible, just make sure to brush up on your knowledge of Chicago style formatting, the TAs were pretty strict about it. final was just a fun project write up that wasn't difficult.

Professor Kursey is great and genuinely accomodating. The main writing portion of the class comes from weekly discussion posts and two pretty short (2 page) papers including the final. Apart from that, there are a couple assignments but these are really fun and ask you to engage creatively so that's a lot of fun. There's an assignment where you're recreating japanese style illustrations and one where you're pictorially representing a space. These are mainly graded on effort and short reflective papers and they really helped me engage with the class. The workload is honestly pretty manageable and you can mostly get by doing only the readings for the discussion posts (though I actually recommend doing more, they're really interesting)

I have no experience at all with art history so I was pretty lost at first. Professor Kersey is super knowledgeable but he sometimes speeds through lectures, does not record them (which was really unfair to people who caught covid), and only posts select slides/materials from lectures on bruin learn. When it comes to assignments & exams though, he is super chill and understanding.

Grade distribution:
40% short papers (these were graded pretty leniently and were relatively easy)
20% weekly precis (graded based on completion)
15% section attendance and participation (I didn't participate a ton but still got full credit)
15% midterm exam (open note & open book, super easy extra credit, a LOT easier than everyone thought it would be)
10% final reflective essay (also graded very leniently)

Overall, I'd recommend this class as a chill GE. I was genuinely surprised by the grade that I ended up with considering how awful I am at art history.

this is my favorite course i've taken this year. the subject material is very easy to engage with regardless of major, so just as long as you put in a moderate amount of work, this is a nice GE.

the midterm is a breeze because it's open note (just make sure you actually have notes), and the biweekly essays are also pretty easy. prof kersey is a super engaging lecturer - every lecture is well structured and he's very knowledgeable and passionate; more importantly, he knows how to pick out what is relevant. he also pushes the deadlines generously to accommodate the workload of our other subjects.

some things to note is that he doesn't record lectures and the slides posted on canvas are only images (no text), so you need to actually listen during lecture and take notes to be prepared for the midterm. still, these notes don't need to be very detailed for you to score well - just know the basics of every concept and you're good.

Prof. Kersey is an engaging lecturer whose genuine passion for his subject really comes through in his lectures. He has slides when he lectures but only chooses a select few images to upload afterwards, which I found kind of inconvenient/annoying but it was fine. He also did not use Zoom or post recordings so you really had to come to lecture or else you'd be stuck reading someone else's notes. The workload was manageable but more than the art history class I took last quarter (AH 31 with Hall), and from what I've heard from art history major friends, seems to be above the average. We had weekly précis-type summaries due every week, along with four short papers spread out over the quarter, an in-person written midterm exam, and a final paper. I think who your TA was also really affected your experience in this class. My TA was Drew Lash and she was great! I definitely recommend her if you can get her. She was really nice and encouraging during discussion, very nice about providing extensions, and lenient with grading. Overall I'd recommend this class if you need it for a GE, your major/minor, or if you're just interested in the subject.

Average class, but if you have Sosa as your TA, you'll get a pretty decent grade.

Overall, I enjoyed the class a lot, despite the high workload. Professor Kersey is engaging and very well educated on this subject. This class is tricky if you're not an art history major, but it's easily manageable- expect to learn a lot of new skills!
The midterm was open book open note, but it was a LOT of questions and a short amount of time, so most people didn't finish. The final was just a reflection essay, so it was effortless. You have to write a 250-word essay every week, but it's also just a summary of the reading, so it's not so bad. Additionally, there are four substantial essays in the class that requires real work.
For art history majors looking for a lower division class, I would highly recommend this one!

Professor Kersey is clearly very knowledgable on this subject matter which made for a tough first few weeks because he speaks so in depth and almost assumes some prior knowledge of Japanese culture and script. However this was not necessary for any of the grading so is not that worrying.
Weekly one page assignments that are based on the readings but also completion based so really not hard. Gave us unlimited extensions on everything except the final so could turn things in up until end of week 10 with no penalty.
Final essay was just a synopsis and Professor Kersey really just wanted students to enjoy the class and take what they can from it, and i did enjoy this class a lot and the assignments were fun!

This class was easy and low-pressure and Kersey was very lax for the pandemic. That said, I didn't really enjoy this class. His lectures were pretty dull and hard to follow in my opinion. He jumped around between topics a lot rather than focus on a few things more in-depth. We looked at a lot of great art though, and there were interesting readings incorporated into the class.