Do not take this class. It's waaaaay too hard, especially for a GE requirement. The grading is really hard, you have to write two 8-10 page papers that you won't be ready for, you have to go to class or you miss points, and you have to read long articles and write four summaries a week. This is the first B I've ever gotten in my whole life.

One of the best classes ever that I've taken at UCSB! A real gem.. I don't agree with some of the negative comments below. Grade is dependent on TA however, so make sure you go to office hours and get to know them, get help, and most importantly, show them you care! I found most of the material most intriguing! Also free field trip to LA!

The professor was really chill but lectures were pointless. TA made the class a horrible experience.

Attendance mandatory. Two 8pg papers plus weekly reading summaries, but the LA art museum field trip more than made up for it. She's hilarious, straightforward, and gets on the same level as her students. Very liberal and anti-censorship. Lots of work, but on fascinating subjects- bodily fluids, sexuality, etc. Favorite professor at UCSB by far.

Took attendance at lecture. 2 8pg research papers, had me doing more work than my other classes COMBINED, and I only took this for GE credit! Big mistake on my part. But I like her style, she's zaney, liberal, and likes to be fun. She talks about some interesting stuff, and is willing to help outside class, which is what saved me for the papers.

absolutely bogus class. couldnt be more happy that its over. long lectures with no interest at all. feminist lecturer, so bias.... hated it, grades based on two papers what a joke.

Dr. Taschian is pretty awesome. She's a fun professor and really encourages class discussion. The class itself was kind of tedious. While the material was easy, the reader was like a phone book and you read ALL of it. Each chapter of the reader requires a 1-2 page analysis turned in during section. There are 5-8 readings per week. Yeah...

not a good class

This class is very challenging, but do-able. The topics covered in the class are very eye opening and interesting...there was just a midterm and a final both take home 8-10 page papers that were fairly easy (topics were interesting)...Overall, awesome class && the lecture on advertising was AWESOME!

This class is challenging but extremely eye opening and so interesting. Be prepared to work, you have a summary due every week and a 8-10 page final and midterm paper, but its mostly interesting material. I had never taken an art class, you need no experience to do well!

She is an okay professor. fell asleep most of the time during her lectures. final and midterm are both take home essays that were dumb. little interesting things came about.

helen is a psycho. she yells when she talks and us extremely annoying. she doesnt know how to teach and i would have dropped this class is if wasnt required for art majors. class is hell. me and everyone else in that lecture dreads going and pretty much DGAF.

I thought the class would be a lot more interesting, which a few lectures were, but most were pretty boring and the reading is a load of bull. It's a lot of writing but if you do it all it's an easy A. There are a lot of artsy kids that take it and I wasn't one so maybe if you are you'll enjoy it more..Taschian is enthusiastic about the subject.

I loved this class! Not super easy, but really interesting. My TA was amazing and really helpful... so that helped a lot.

Helen's lectures are pretty interesting when she does slides but her movie clips are really boring! The readings are really boring and lengthy...her midterm and final are both take home essays...

She always talked in extremely advanced terms like she was trying to show off what she knew and how smart she was. I couldn't stand it. If its a beginning class she should help out a little more and not try to show off her vocabulary. Papers were hard, depends on the TA grading it too.very rarely are the lectures interesting.She made the class hard

text: dense. some easy, most hard. lecture: enthusiastic, but sometimes unclear about the point. tests: no midterm, final was insane. takehome essay was several Qs that wound up at 12 pgs. mult choice part was too specific. overall: she teaches examples rather than concepts; if you keep up with assignments it's not too bad, but good luck on that

Who does she think she is? She is teaching a basic GE class but has assigned more writing than my 2 UD history classes this quarter combined. The readings are thick to the point of being unpenetrable. Class is at times extremely interesting, or extremely boring. Do not take for your GEs

She's nice, the material is interesting, but there's a ton of reading (some of it is interesting, some of it is boring). It's about 50/50 with her. I agree that the test seemed to come from inexperience, I even wrote that on the test itself. She'll get better. The TAs were tough. Don't be afraid! :)

Class topics are okay, but the final she made was born out of inexperience. 60% of the class failed the final and are now forced to curve it. Unfortunately, it looks like she's going to be teaching the class a lot more now. A must for the major, but if you're not in the Art major, DONT take her.

Very well articulated, very prepared, very knowledgable in her genre. I highly recommend taking anything she offers as you will learn a lot.

really nice teacher, but your grade really depends on your TA. The material can be pretty boring but its not that bad.

The lectures are drab and sometimes you fall asleep. Has a willingness to be lively but prompts for class participation a lot and does not encourage other students to participate. Bring a pillow and hope for a good grade.