Chattopadhyay may be a bit intimidating at first, but she's genuinely interested in the subject matter and student learning. The only assignment was to keep a journal of class activities and the occasional assigned reading. If you show up and do the journal, it's an easy and fairly interesting class.
This professor lacked respect and was not at all respectful. She was rude and did not treat the students well. She should not teach.
Professor is very passionate about the subject and can be intimidating at times due to the amount of knowledge she has and her expectations of students. She makes lectures engaging based on how much she knows and clearly tells you what to expect for midterms, assignments, and projects.
5 modules each worth 10%. Midterm and final online. Chill class but super uninteresting and the lectures felt 10 hours long. TA grades hard and makes you walk around the Arts Building every week writing down observations. Felt like the class was a waste of my time, did not learn much. Dissapointed in the GE classes at UCSB.
There is a lot of reading and you really have to pay attention during the lectures but I found it pretty interesting. Sometimes the concepts were very abstract but the TAs and the sections really helped. Not a super hard class but you definitely just have to put in some time.
Tough if you have no experience in the subject. TA's grade.
We had short assignments that did take some thought but were pretty straightforward once you got the hang of it. The final was a bit difficult. She assigned our research paper as more like a detailed review of another paper since we didnt have as much access to sources during the remote quarter. Shell give you solid feedback if you reach out.
Lectures are very boring and her voice is quite dry. Weekly assignments are short, but graded harshly. The research paper was a little odd for an art history paper but graded fairly.
The class was heavy and quite hard to follow as an upper class. Since I am not art history major, the topic was hard to understand with lots of specific terms. Be aware of pop quiz and do the readings carefully. The final exam was hard in which she will test you on specific image explained in class. DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS!
Swati is a great professor. She can be kind of intense at the beginning, but take notes and you'll be okay.
I took multiple classes with Swati as a non-art history major and enjoyed every one. She is very passionate and serious about her work and it shows in the lectures. all of her classes were very interesting and influenced me to pursue architecture as a possible career path.
I took my first Architectural History class ever with Swati, and she got me really into it! by this was my third now. As all others, her class is very good structured, she always revises the important points. She wants you to know the main concepts and not details!! Highly recommended
I've had Swati twice now, and both courses have literally changed the way I see the world. She is brilliant in explaining colonial and capitalist theory/critique and relates it all to urban planning and public/domestic architecture. She might seem intense at first, but I came to love it. Has lots of office hours and the reader has great articles
She comes off as stern on the first day of class, but her sense of humor and real desire to thoroughly teach students comes through shortly thereafter. Her lectures are dense, but the tests are on whatever she talked the most about in class, which makes it pretty easy to do well. Fair grading, interesting style of lecture.
It was a shame that she felt it necessary to yellow every other word and put the an emphasis on the wrong syllables because I am sure if anyone else present her same information I would have enjoyed this class. Someone needs to tell her to tone it down and stop yelling intermittently because its totally not enjoyable to sit through!
scary, but organized and interesting.
I really enjoy her class. She has definitely changed the way I look at even the simplest of architecture. She is extremely brilliant. She can be kind of intense because every other word she says she kind of yells it but once you get over the shock of that she is perfect. Readings can be difficult but the tests are not.
Brilliant professor, subject matter (urban planning in various cities around the world) presented in a unique way, she definitely wants her students to develop critical thinking skills, class attendance necessary to do well on exams, great sense of humor, don't be afraid to ask her to clarify! one of the best profs i've ever had!
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what eveyone says it very true. Soften her up by going to her offic hours and sit in the front row. it's not bad at all. I kept the book and love what i learned...very useful in everyday life.
Oh so easy. I have no idea what half the lectures were about and I was at all of them. Very strange teaching style, almost like she is yelling at you. The TA was intense too, but a sweetheart who wanted everyone to do well.
The class was organized by subject matter, instead of chronologically, so it was a little weird. Excellent class, though. She requires you to actually think critically about the relationship of architecture and Modernity. The people who don't like her usually don't get it, or they're not that interested in the subject to begin with.
Wastes an incredible amount of class time asking the students to define simple terms. Its funny how she stresses "thinking" even though the A essays were just regurgitation of her own subjective opinions stated in class. Her statements in lecture are often unsupported and pointless - just mention them in your essays and you will do fine.
Very hard and strict teacher. Gets the points across pretty well in class but content is hard to get by with. Has a lot of expectations from students but as long as you get what she's trying to get across, the class isn't too hard.