So you’ve taken the plunge and signed up for your very first
art history course. Yayyy! Whether its
the Spanish Golden Age, Japanese Meji Era, or Contemporary African Art -
there’s a lot of work to do. There’s a bunch of dates,
titles, names with difficult, foreign spelling
(Does spelling even count?) But don’t worry, because
here are my top tips to help you study for your Art History class.
1. Attend all of your classes. And yes, i'm talking about. every single one of them!
Even if your class is really early, don't hit that snooze button because lectures
can be really jam-packed with a lot of information
and they usually go in a chronological order so it can be hard to keep up
if you missed 1 of them. Your professor may also have
themes or overarching idea is to organize the material
so if you miss a crucial part, like their
thesis, you might be really lost about
how everything ties together. And that can really kick you in the butt later on
when that
same idea shows up on your final and number two is
to do your reading. Now text books can be really expensive
which but there's a lot of alternatives that can help
if you can afford it, that's great because having your own copy
means you can write it in, you can underline and highlight important passages
but if you can't afford it you should look for other alternatives and not just give
up on reading.
Sometimes it can help if you ask your professor. Maybe they know there's a PDF
version online that you can get for free
or there's a copy in the library that you can check out.
Look for used copies, rent a book, or look online for cheaper deals,
or as an ebook which is usually cheaper. If you have a friend in the class, maybe you can split the
cost and alternate
weeks. Buy or borrow the book off of someone who took the class
last semester. And if you do end up buying the book you can always sell it to
another student so you can get some more money for you next semester.
And, actually read it! I know it can be long and tedious
and dry, but it really helps and here's my
tips of how to read your reading. 1. Read through it quickly and get an
idea of what it's about. What's the thesis?
Can you summarize it succinctly? 2. Write down any questions you have
What makes it strong? What makes it weak? And what do you not understand?
3. Read it again but this time more slowly and more critically.
Can you answer all the questions that you listed? Highlight and underline
key points, right down notes or questions that would be good to
bring out during discussion. 3. Is to ask
lots of questions. Now this is something I definitely struggled with
but if you're going to class, paying attention to lecture, do your reading,
and you still find yourself lost, that's a strong indication that
some idea was lost upon you. Maybe the professor glossed over an idea too quickly
or they didn't explain it well enough. Asking a question at this point
can not only help you, but likely your classmates
as they're probably lost as well. And a lot of people are too shy or don't
care enough to bring it up.
Asking questions will demonstrate that you're paying attention and you're engaged,
and I'm sure your professor will appreciate that. That's also why it's
important to do your readings
before class, because it's really difficult to have a discussion
without doing your readings. It'll become really obvious that you have no idea
what you're talking about
and that will have the opposite effect of what you want.
4. Take lots of notes. Not just on your lecture but also during discussion and during
your readings.
People have different ways of taking notes that they prefer
or work best for them. Some prefer to work on paper, while
others like to bring their laptops to class. Sometimes it can be a challenge to just
balance getting everything down verses
having a somewhat organized, coherent
set of notes that you can study from later on. And organizing your notes will
actually help you understand lectures better.
Instead of just transcribing word-for-word with the professors saying,
it'll probably help to actually think about what they're trying to convey,
and understanding how to break that up into smaller bits
so you can visually organize the information in your notes.
This can take a bit of trial and error, but when you get a good system down, stick
with it and you'll be rewarded with
an easier studying time at the end of the semester.
While taking notes, it also helps to underline
or star important ideas. If your professors spending
long time on a particular art piece, you should definitely star it
or highlight it in some way so that you know maybe it'll show up
as an essay or in a final. Now you've gone to all your classes
done all you're readings, taken really good notes,
midterms and finals are fast approaching and you need to study to
pass your test. Make sure you know the format your final beforehand
so that you can strategize how to study for the test.
This is more of a general test-taking strategy, but if you know that sixty percent of your
grade will be an
in class essay with an open prompt with 20 percent
being slide IDs and 20 percent being compare and contrast
should allocate your time so you could study proportionally.
Because identifying artworks is really important for an art history class,
I suggest making flashcards. Now you can make digital or
paper flashcards, whichever fits your studying habits.
If you do go with paper flashcards make sure to print them in color since color
can really help you identify certain works,
and important in general for a piece of artwork. If you're a person who's really attached your
smartphone, maybe download an app with digital flash cards to help
study on the go. I use a program called Anki, which you can use on your phone or
your computer
and you basically mark cards as you flip through them:
whether you remember it, or you don't remember it, and they have this algorithm
that will shuffle you cards that you have to trouble with more
often so you get a little bit more practice. And you could do this same thing
with paper flash cards by making decks
of what is easy to remember, difficult to remember, or a more moderate pile, and then
you can
shuffle through the ones you have trouble with more often.
For essays figure out what the format will be
is it an open prompt, where you provide examples relevant to the idea
or will it be a compare and contrast essay? Take a look at all the artworks that
your professor has gone
over: what are the overarching themes and what do they have in common? What has the
progression look like throughout this course?
Put yourself in the shoes in your professor: what kind of information are you trying
to convey
and what kind of prompt wall demonstrate that knowledge?
You can also ask your professor for example prompts. These
won't be the ones on the actual test, but it'll give you an idea of what the format will be
and help you prepare. It can also help you look the class rubrick
look at what the titles are for each week what are the topics
and what would your imaginary essay for each week
be? So that when you study you cover each topic. You're basically casting a wider
net
so that you don't miss any huge chunks information.
Try to think artworks that would be good to demonstrate certain ideas
so that if you have an essay asking you to provide examples of
work that demonstrate royalty, you'll know which
three would be your go-to answers. Lastly don't feel pressured to stick with only
the material provided by your class the library has a ton of free resources for you
and you can also look online you might not want to put too much weight
on a 2001 blog
has never been updated but hey I think Wikipedia's citations
are a great place to start. Try Google Scholar or
Google Books for more resources online.
The more you absorb the more familiar you are with it, and that repetition
really helps when you're stressing out trying to recall details
during in class timed essay. All you got to do now is to actually study!
Figure out what's the best way for you to study. Does the background chatter at a
cafe help you focus?
Or do you find it really distracting? Do you need to hole up
in your room? Do you need to have a snacks? Do you need to ban social medias from your
laptop or phone for a couple hours? Or maybe you need to set up a system where
you reward yourself with
a pastry after a thousand words or something.
maybe verbalizing ideas really help you study,
in which case you might want to form a study group. Or maybe you need to write
everything down
Draw out a map or a timeline. Finally try to make it fun for yourself.
I know it's hard when you're stressing out about a grade
but remember that you signed up for the class in the first place because you found
something interesting about it.
Try to find pieces that you really like and identify with
so that you can incorporate them into your essays, and I'll make it a lot
easier for you to enjoy it.
Don't spend all your time trying to memorize every single word about it,
but actually enjoy the work itself. Look at the art!
Every single word you're reading came from someone looking at the art
itself. Most of the time. So you can also get a lot out it just looking at the artwork
itself.
I hope you guys found my tips useful, and let me know what is your best
studying tip in the comment section below. If you're interested in art
history please subscribe!
I make a bunch of art related videos every week
and I share my favorite art related movies, books, and podcasts every month.
If you have any more questions about studying art history, please leave them in
the comments section below and I'll try my best to answer them.
Best of luck with all your studying, And I'll see you guys next time!
whether the Spanish Golden Age, japanese-Meji era
or the (incorrect) meso-petamia, meopetamian, mesopetamian art..
Why did I pick such a hard word to say?
And..... (sigh) why?????