Although I passed, I don’t recommend this class. Lectures are boring, with slides showing only an image, date, and author. The professor’s quiet tone makes it hard to focus, and since lectures are optional, I stopped attending by week 3. Discussion takes participation, but is more engaging and my TA was kind, understanding with deadlines, and graded leniently. Our section made a study guide which SAVED me for the midterm and final.

The workload is manageable: optional readings, three papers (the second being a rewrite), a midterm requiring memorization of 20 figures (write-ups on 5), and a final with 11 terms, 30 paintings, and 5 essays to prep for. Even though not all terms, paintings, and essays were chosen, it was HELL to study for. Recalling information was incredibly hard as there were no activities to solidify concepts. It may seem easy but you'd probably be focused on topics in your other classes than this irrelevant one... Overall, there are better GE options don't do this one.

If you are interesting in art history, and reading about the art and history of Chinese empires, this class might be interesting and fun for you. However, don't gaslight yourself into thinking you can just fulfill it easily as a GE. If you aren't interested, I wouldn't take it. Dropped second week when they started teaching mandarin. Lots of reading every week, probably doable but didn't interest me at all.