Soo, here I am, trying to decide which elective to take next semester. First, I went with GEOG 1HA3, then I switched to ECON 1B03...and now, I'm thinking of taking ART HIST 1AA3...as you can probably tell, I am quite the indecisive person! I'm already taking History of Music (1AA3) so do you think it would be wise if I took another art history course? For those of you who have taken the course, mind telling me a little bit about it? From what I've read in the Easy First Year Electives thread, memorization is the key to this course. Are there any assignments? How would you rate the interest level of the course? Any advice would be appreciated, I need input!

I think Art History is the easier option, but you need to like to memorize a lot - and for any class, it helps if you're a little interested in the topic. If you only want to take Art History because you heard it's easy then it probaby won't be the class for you because there is still some effort that needs to be put into the course. I've only taken the first Art History, but I assume it would be similar to the AA3 course.

I don't think you need 1A03 as a pre-requisite to 1AA3. 1A03 is not being offered next term anyway, so you would have to take 1AA3, and you probably can but you might want to double check that.

I am taking 1A03 right now, and from what I hear they are different. In 1A03, you study art 'thematically' so according to themes like Sculpture, Printmaking, Painting, the Creation of Art/the Destruction of Art, etc. In 1AA3, you study probably similar themes but within more of a historical context. So whereas with the first course you don't have to memorize much except for a lot of terms relating to the themes, in the second course you probably have to memorize a lot of dates and have a good idea of how the art relates to historical events/periods, important artists, a lot more.

Sorry I can't help you much because I haven't taken the second course yet, I will be taking it next semester. But I expect it will be a lot heavier, a lot more memorization. I am not sure of the breakdown, but it could be similar to the first course which was one major paper, midterm and final exam. If you're interested in art, I would recommend taking it, I am sure it's good. And probably easier than Econ, haha.

Art history 1AA3 goes more into the artistic concepts (ie naturalism, realism etc) and historical background of Art History. Your tests are mainly memorization of dates, artists, and the names of pieces. You have an essay and the final exam (at least last year) was a mix of memorization and essay questions on theories. If Davies is teaching the course then definately take it, hes a great prof. Its a pretty easy course, just go to class and you'll be fine.