[V3201] The Arts of China

Ok, let me just say that I'm in the middle of this class and I despise it already. The man seems like a nice guy during lectures and maybe in person...very comical (depends on your sense of humor). But he's very nitpicky. I mean, he'll call on you during class to answer a question...if you do not say it exactly the way he has the answer pictured out in his head, he'll embarass you in front of everybody. And his papers...again, if you leave out the word "the" by accident, you automatically get a B- on your paper. The readings are long and dry...and everything he says comes straight from the textbook. Again, he's too nitpicky for this very simple class. I recommend instead Arts of China, Japan, and Korea with Delbanco.

Harrist is a very talented lecturer and is extremely well versed in the Arts of China, as the graduate studies head, I sure hope that he would be. He is a generally nice man in and out of class, but can be inapproachable. His lectures were generally bearable and kept my interest, though others may disagree. I believe that he graded the papers and exams, not his TA, like was said in an earlier review. He was rude to the TAs and had favorites in class. The mid-term and final did not seem to quite test the bulk of what we learned. The final exam had I believe 5 known IDs, one of which was a ceramic and another was architecture (we mainly focused on paintings). It had I think 3 unknown slides that we had to ID according to what we knew about specific styles and techniques. It has two essays, one short and one long based on the homework readings. I would recommend him.

Once again, stay away from this class!!! Prof. Harrist might know his stuff (and Chinese) but his lectures, which consisted of never-ending slides were extremely dry, long and borring. There was no interaction in his class; questions and opinions were never encouraged. There were no reviews and do not expect any help from the TAs who barely speak English. You are expected to memorize a whole bunch of Chinese names and terms that sometimes are inscripted in the paintings (in Chinese!!!)

I'll admit Harrist probably isn't everyone's cup of tea (see earlier reviews), but I thought he was great: wonderfully articulate and sharp as a tack, with a rather dry sense of humour that's just the thing to combat the asphyxiating stuffiness of 612 Schermerhorn. (If anyone from the Art History dept. or the administration is reading this, do something about that before you have a corpse and a massive lawsuit on your penny-pinching hands.) I attended the first day of class not quite expecting to stay - I already had a survey course of Asian art under my belt - but needless to say I did, and didn't regret it. At a school like Columbia where the general pattern with the faculty seems to be an inversely proportional relationship between intelligence and pedagogic ability, its always nice to run into someone who isn't short on one or the other. The assigned readings were well worth the time, mostly selections from venerable old names in the field as well as contemporary scholars actively thinking and writing about Chinese art; I ended learning not just about the latter but also the former, which will probably come in handy if ever I decide to join their illustrious ranks (and I just might).

On the downside, however, Harrist is one of those slightly flighty, slightly haughty, to-the-manner-born types who can make you want to grind the enamel right off your teeth. The midterm was absolutely horrendous (apparently the median was a B or thereabouts), mostly due to the lack of a slide list and a couple of curveballs with the IDs, as well as an (that's right, ONE) essay question the adequate answering of which required the regurgitation of 6 weeks' worth of information, and to which he very cavalierly remarked "I should be ashamed of setting such easy exams". Well.

But don't let that scare you away. Take a class with him, he's well worth the hassle and the tuition dollars - you'll probably end up learning more than you bargained for. I did.

Prof. Harrist is a very thorough and clear lecturer who obviously knows everything about what he teaches and more. He doesn't joke or interact with students much, but he's receptive to questions. Outside of class, he's neither unfriendly nor particularly outgoing. He's just a jaded senior professor who's here to do his job, not to be your best friend. You'll learn a lot from him if you try, but it's hard to make a personal impression on him as an undergraduate. Prof. Harrist is pretty lenient grader though--the kind who settles for the ambivalent A- all the time, and regurgitation alone will get you there.

Professor Harrist knows his shit. That being said, his personality leaves something to be desired. Despite introducing myself and telling him my name about once a week, he didnt master it by the end of the class. He treated the TA like total crap. And she didnt even strike- go figure. He's pompous and a little bored i think- grading was...weird, but the TA graded everything, so cant really judge what HE thinks of my work.

I took this course to fulfill my Major Cultures requirement. The class size is huge and it gets really stuffy in the Schermerhorn room, which doesn't help because the class lectures can get really boring. It's a total combination of Art Hum and Intro to East Asian Civ. Lots of memorization for dates and artists and you have to know a bit of Chinese History for some of the essays. It's definitely manageable, but not an easy A if that's what you're looking for. If you like art and are a good note taker, and can stay awake through Art Hum and Chinese Civ, then you can get through this class.

Robert Harrist is very knowledgable about the subject and definately enjoys teaching. He can sound pretentious especially pronouncing "Beijing" with an over exaggerated Chinese tones. It may be due to the fact he went to grad school at Princeton. I learned a lot from the class and found it interesting. First half of the semester focuses on bronzes and general art while the second half is harder focusing on styles of certain Chinese artists and their paintings. He is a fair grader but is lectures can sometimes bore.