Don't enroll in this class unless you are willing to spend most of your time memorizing dates and names. The midterm and finals were hard with both consisting of having to memorize more than 30 art pieces but only being quizzed on 2, vocab words, a map, and essay portions. Her slides are not very helpful, so I highly recommend attending/watching the lectures. She goes over a lot so it can be quite a drag but she uploads her lectures on bruin cast. Also, the book isn't necessary. Overall, this is not an easy GE, so I only recommend taking it if you are highly interested in art.

The professor was a very good and engaging lecturer. However, I do have problems with the overall layout of this course.
The course itself is ostensibly focused on finding trends and patterns throughout medieval art history over time. However, due to the content of the midterm and final exam, there is a LOT of pressure put on pure memorization. By that I mean that if one had the names, dates, appearances, places, and terms memorized, that person would only have to study for 15 additional minutes total in order to ace the exams. There is barely any insight required in this class. Because of this, studying for the class is very frustrating. When the professor brings up an example of an artifact it just feels like "great, more stuff to memorize."
(By the way, this means you don't need the textbook. At all.)
Speaking of the exams, despite the professor promising that they were just like quizzes and that we shouldn't stress out about them, they are extremely unforgiving and brutally written. For example, for the technical terms, rather than being given terms to define, we have to provide the specific terms provided their definition, of which there are a lot, most of which are not even in English.
The assignments also don't give an opportunity to show off one's knowledge and insight, except for I guess the ArtTok project. There's also literally no reason whatsoever to do any of the readings that you aren't doing a precis worksheet on, because they don't help you at all in the class.
It's a shame because the professor really is good at making clear and interesting lectures, but I feel stopped from enjoying and learning from them due to the overall content of the course.
TLDR: I would recommend taking this class, if you're good at and want to memorize tons of names and dates, as well as technical terms. Otherwise, give it a pass.

Dr. Cohen is not often the best lecturer and her voice is often quiet, but she is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about her subject (Paris and her beloved Sainte-Chapelle).

The readings for the class were extensive and difficult to grasp. Initially I read them all, but it became burdensome, plus we never discussed them in class, so I gave up reading them altogether after the mid-term.

The exams were relatively easy, slides, short answer questions, etc. There was a lot to memorize, but that's an art history course so I cannot complain too much about that.

I'm taking her again this quarter and am enjoying the class. After two classes with her, it seems like she teaches at a graduate level, perhaps that's just me, but that's what it seems like based off of lecture and reading materials.

This topic is so interesting and I took the course because of how much I love medieval art, but the professor just talks the whole class and reads off the slides. It was the most boring class I have ever taken. Do not worry, you will not be bored after lecture with all of the assignments she has for you to do on Canvas. The exam was moderately difficult, but you would not be able to get an A if you don’t go to lecture and take notes on what she says in class. The essays were so incredibly long and tedious, not to mention we had to go to the Getty and look at the exhibition, take notes, and write a 12 page paper on it. There are a ton of vocabulary words you must memorize for the exams and just so much work for a GE. If you are looking for an easy GE, this is not it.

The lectures were so long….BUT The TAs and professors really love art so discussions were fun and interesting. I got new perspective about old buildings and objects that I’m so excited to apply when I travel!

This was my favorite class this quarter; if you like to memorize and regurgitate information, this is definitely the class for you. Lectures can be a little bit difficult to sit through sometimes. My TA, Wren, was amazing, but I think all the TAs were pretty good. Wren is definitely a huge part of why I loved this class so much, and after taking it, I am probably going to add art history as a minor or major. There were 2 exams, a final, and a project, and all were about the same level of difficulty - you memorize a map and a list of artworks (creator, date, location, significance). Random "quizzes" five times throughout the quarter in section that are very simple and one sentence long. Easy A if you go through the information and take the time to memorize what she puts on the study guide - absolutely no surprises on the tests.

A lot of people do not really like Cohen because they think the class is hard, but really, it is all memorization. Cohen is a really straightforward lecturer and I always knew what to expect, but her lectures can be a bit boring. However, I really enjoyed her as a professor and I am taking another art history class this quarter. Take this!!!!!!

Honestly, you should avoid taking this class if you aren't interested in art history. It was an easy class with a light workload but learning about medieval art can be SO boring.

Dr. Cohen did a great job teaching though. I can tell how passionate she is about the subject by just listening to her talk about each medieval piece. She explains them in great detail, and as long as you pay attention during lecture, you won't need to even read the textbook. I thought the exams were pretty fair.

Discussion section attendance is mandatory and the TA gives you graded worksheets, but honestly I did pretty well despite not reading any of the textbook readings and barely reading the weekly required documents.