Alicia Volk

This professor has taught: ARTH292, ARTH383, ARTH428E, ARTH488A, ARTH488B, ARTH488J, ARTH488N, ARTH698, ARTH779, ARTH779A, ARTH779B, ARTH779C, ARTH779D, ARTH779F, ARTH779G

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Alicia Volk ARTH292 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/16/2024	Loved the class but it is a lot of work. People who generally complain are those taking it for a gened, but they don't really seem to understand how survey-based art history courses work. You will have to go to every lecture, you will have to study a set of images (it isn't even that large compared to other classes), and you will have to write essays. If you go in understanding this you will enjoy the course very much. If you are a gen-ed student that is just taking this class to fulfill a generic requirement and will complain about having to put in work, don't do it and probably don't take an art history course. I learned to much about Japanese art through this course and professor Volk always makes lectures very engaging. Her way of storytelling is super captivating and I never felt bored. Also, her two TAs, Noriko and Maggie, are immensely helpful and have really fun discussion sections.
Alicia Volk Expecting a B Anonymous 05/11/2024	For people taking this class as a GEN-ED. Avoid this class like the plague. It's horrendous flat out no getting around it. It's treated like it's not a GEN ED class. This is a class that's a pre-requisite for art majors and it's obnoxiously redundant when it comes to the grading system. Content is solely based on slides and when it comes to preparing for any of the 2 exams or final, you better hope you happened to remember the right 5 out of 100 images because if you didn't you're entirely out of luck. Terrible way to grade an entire class where it's not even based on how much you know overall just how much you happen to know about what she specifically asked about. When it comes to the writing sections of the exams, there isn't a way to even know what to study for or the topic that will be on the exam, no overall theme just a comparison between more specific nonsense. Class is graded way to heavily on exams when they have you write 4 page papers. Nice professor, interesting and enjoyable class but the professor just seems a little out of touch when it comes to the testing. -TLDR: Only take this class if you have a photographic memory and can BS writing sections really well.
Alicia Volk ARTH292 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/11/2024	Extremely hard class for absolutely no reason. Not only does this class cover all of Japanese Art history, from 11000 BCE to the current day, but Professor Volk requires you to memorize the name of each piece of art, the author, the date it was created, and the medium. She allows students to use one side of a notecard for each exam which simply isn't enough seeing how each exam covers around 100 pieces of artwork. On top of this, the format of each test is unnecessarily anxiety-inducing, as she shows images on the projector with a time limit on each image, so once she passes each image there is no going back, immediately eliminating any test-taking strategies you may have. If you were thinking about taking this course as a GenEd, DON'T, you will end up wasting tons of your time studying for a class that you will forget about the second the final exam ends.
Alicia Volk ARTH292 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024	Professor Volk was very sweet, but DO NOT take unless you are genuinely not interested in this topic. Theres SO MUCH to remember. You have to know dates, authors, mediums, titles, definitions, concepts. And don't forget it's a Japanese art history class so the terms are in another language. Not an easy gen ed. I expected an A but will be lucky to get a B-.
Alicia Volk ARTH488J Expecting a B Anonymous 01/25/2024	I am in shock to find out she had such low score on here! This is my first ARTH class I had with Prof. Volk and she is the best Art history professor I had! She knows her materials and she is very passionate about Japanese Arts. We do have a lot of readings but they are not too long and difficult to understand. Even if I missed readings of the week, being in class to discuss the readings will help you keep up with class. It was quite easy to get through as it is interesting with a lot of engagement with actual archival materials and films in class. I usually can't focus for long but I never got bored in this class and out focus because she always have books or actual artwork to show us and pass along to read/ touch it. I got a B but it's my own fault for not working on my final essay on time (otherwise pretty sure a A-). We didn't have final exam because she asked all of us to vote on it which is very nice. One thing I love about this course is that the materials and schedule on ELMS is so organized and easy to understand what to do each week, so I never felt like I don't know what to do or I had to remember it myself. I would take another of her art history class if I could!
Alicia Volk ARTH488B Expecting a B Anonymous 01/30/2012	This class is totally not worth it. Professor Volk has a very sweet voice makes you feel like you're doing great throughout the semester. She gives you vague critiques which also make you feel like you're doing great and did not hand back a single paper or grade the entire semester so you're left feeling like you did well (when you're probably behind). We also never had a grading rubric to tell us what she is looking for while grading our work. She expects a lot from her students...to the point where she disregards most of us are full-time students and have other classes and homework to do on top of her class. The only up side to this course is if you're truly interested in Japanese Art, she is the person to talk to because she knows what she's talking about.
Alicia Volk ARTH290 Expecting a C Anonymous 01/21/2011	Do not take this class, especially not if you're taking a full load. Unfortunately the professor thinks that everyone is as interested in the subject as she is. Her lectures are boring. Every discussion, there is quiz on IDs from the previous class; but what if you haven't had time to study the IDs yet. Around Midterm and Finals time you will have to memorize around 100 slide IDs (artist, title, culture, medium, and time). Take something else if you're trying ti fulfill a core, if you must well I feel sorry for you. The 3 TAs were cool but they were strict and weren't a lot of help. My TA was like a mini Prof. Volk. Towards the end of the semester she got better. Moral of the story: avoid this class if you can.
Alicia Volk ARTH290 Anonymous 12/29/2010	Dr. Volk has the sweetest voice out of all the professors I have had. She also is the author of a pretty well written book. Her classes are fairly interesting but it is difficult to stay engaged with her monotonous voice. For the class, I really looked forward to it in the beginning of the semester. The readings were interesting and my TA seemed to know what was going on. But as the course went on, what Volk and the TA's expected of us seemed above and beyond what would be good enough for an A in a core class. Here is what work they have you do: - memorize the title, artist, century, medium, and culture of a bunch of artwork that look the same, - pop quizzes on what I listed above during discussion (any artwork discussed before is game) - 2 reading responses (these are not too bad, but the second reading was a book that you had to rent for a maximum time of 2 hours at the art library. It was about 40 pages long.) - keep up with the reading, which are occasionally discussed during discussion, which by the way goes into your participation grade. As said below, there is no actually textbook, but a bunch of photocopies of journals and articles and textbooks. So the resolution is terrible and font size is miniscule. Try reading at least 100 of those for the class. - 2 visual response papers that were graded way too harshly by the TA’s. I have a couple friends majoring in English and they both received C’s on their papers when they normally receive A’s on most of their English papers. One was terribly insulted with the TA suggested her to get hers edited by the English department before submitting the next one. - 1 midterm and 1 final. They are similar in format. Identifications with no word bank, comparing artwork, term definition with examples of artwork, and free responses. I remember students attacked professor Volk and the TA’s after the midterm because it was too much content in too little time. However grades were not adjusted. I do not believe there is a curve in the class. And grades were never posted on blackboard so you left in the dark. It took a while for the final grade to be posted and I am sure many students had their stomachs in knots waiting. Please do not take this class with professor Volk. In person she is amazing but as an ARTH290 professor, please avoid her.
Alicia Volk ARTH290 Expecting a C Lunar01 12/27/2010	First of all, let me just say that this class requires A LOT OF EFFORT. If you are looking for easy A, I would suggest you look somewhere else. Now for the class itself, the material can be interesting, but failed to meet its potential. Attending lectures is a must, missing even one will put you behind. The professor will lecture with a semi-monotone voice because she loves the topic but does not know how to convey it in the most interesting way to the students. The discussions go in deeper length with the topics in lectures. I HIGHLY SUGGEST you do the readings, no matter how long (average 20 pages) or boring (reading a textbook) they might be. This is because you need to know what's going on in discussions. You will have a ton of reading to do so do not let them snowball. There are two visual analysis, midterm, and final. You will have to go to the Freer & Sackler Museums in DC for the visual analysis. You will need to master the art of rote memorization on the artworks and do every reading to get a good grade on the midterm and finals. This course is not for people who wish for a light workload intro to the topic of Asian Art. I recommend you take other courses because of the sheer work amount in this class.
Alicia Volk ARTH290 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/15/2010	This class was awful. Definitely my worst choice. We had nearly 100 notecards to memorize (which only sounds KINDA bad) but when you realize that the artists names are totally foreign, you need to know the date of the work, the medium, the title, and the country of origin, that makes nearly 500 things to memorize. No one ever did the readings because they were in font size 8 and like 50 pages long (and they were hardly EVER addressed in lecture or discussion), but you were of course expected to know them on the test. I didn't learn anything about the actual artists, most of this class is rote memorization. I tried REALLY hard and I'm expecting a B+ if I'm lucky. Oh, also, there are quizzes every week in discussion, and they don't post the slides on elms until after the quiz, so it's impossible to study for. Don't take this class.
Alicia Volk ARTH290 Anonymous 12/13/2010	If you have a choice, you shouldn't take this class. The material in interesting (after the midterm- the first half is almost entirely Buddhist art and if gets really repetitive) and Professor Volk seems like a really nice person but the expectations that either she or the TA's (I really don't know who set the guidelines) are too strict. For an introductory course, we're required more than is necessary. In the midterm, nobody had enough time to finish the long essay that was worth the most points because of the details she asked for in every other question. She doesn't give you much notice at all for papers, even though they require trips to the Freer Gallery at the Smithsonian. You'll be spending a lot of money on Metro trips. Also, the fact that there wasn't a book, only collections of essays and articles on Elms (some of which were difficult to find) made it difficult to keep up, especially since we had up to six readings a week. Unless you've been dying to take a class on Asian art, I suggest you stay away from this.
Alicia Volk ARTH290 Anonymous 12/05/2010	So what the reviewer below said about the course is true. It does have all those assignments described but it isn't as stressul as he/she makes it out to be. The main contributions to your grade are 2 visual analysis paper and your midterm and final. There are many readings to be done but I personally did not do a single one. They are supposed to be incorporated into the 2 exams but I didn't encounter anything I couldn't answer without the readings. Overall, the subject material is VERY interesting. Volk seems like an extremely nice person and her lectures are a pleasure to attend cuz she speaks so well and keeps everyone engaged. I loved the class and the professor. I would recommend it. The subject material is a little difficult to memorize due to the odd names but that really is only for the second part of the semester and can be dealt with easily if you keep up with the class discussions. Hope this helps and does not confuse you! :)
Alicia Volk ARTH290 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/01/2010	Do not take this class. It is definitely not worth it. Don't take this class if you don't have a lot of time on your hands. I do not hate the teacher as much as I hate the material and how the grades are construed.The professor's voice is "soothing;" she seems like a genuinely nice person. However, the material is too much. We have to memorize so so so many paintings and objects that all look the same. Further, the subjects and painters have really hard to pronounce/spell/remember names (e.g. Okumura Masanobu). It seems like an impossible feat if you have other hard classes. Also, we have a lot of readings (incorporated into the exams), visual analysis papers, response papers, worksheets, etc. The extra credit is only +1 point, but necessary since your grades will most likely suffer. You WILL go to the Freer Museum many many times throughout the semester (time-consuming + metro fees). After the withdrawal date, the teacher suddenly gives you an immense workload in a short period of time. I recommend saving yourself the pains of taking this class.