Gold
SilverI thought this was a fantastic class. Once you get used to his style, Elcott is a very clear lecturer (He never leaves a thought unfinished - so expect to leave lots room in your notes) and the topic was fascinating. He's a very compelling speaker.
This was not a typical slide based art history class. It is very theoretical and focuses heavily on how the history of photography has been recorded and photography's place in art, law and science. I would highly recommend this class for VA majors and students with concentrations in photography.
Elcott expects you to internalize the readings as well as the images. Definitely fewer slides to know than most art history classes, but more readings. Expect to be making flashcards about authors as often as you make them for artists. The readings are mostly very interesting though and he spends a lot of time going over them.
I found his grading to be very fair. He has far lower standards for the first paper than for the last, so expect your grade to go down over the term if you don't work progressively harder. In total I think there were 2 papers, a slide & essay mid term, slide & essay final, research paper. He gives the research assignment early in the semester so take his advice and start working on it.
Yes, Elcott is weirdly, starchily, compulsively articulate (read: speaks in complete sentences and uses the word "superlative" unironically) but he's not a bad lecturer by any means. His approach is almost single-minded in its focus on the theory and not the images itself, which is handy come test time when you realize you've only got a dozen or so IDs to memorize after weeks and weeks of lectures. He loves the readings and really makes you deal with them on tests and papers, but you don't have to freak out about reading them all because he basically runs them through in class. I actually thought this guy was quite interesting. But again, super theory-heavy. so if you'd rather cycle through tons of pictures, maybe not this guy.
Standard art history midterm and final of IDs and essays, two shorter essays (4-7 pages, I think) and a longer 10-page that's a "research paper," but really not a research paper.
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