A Rant

I have recently begun taking a course in art from it's beginnings up to the 14th Century, and must admit my extreme disappointment in my instructor. No professor is perfect, and students often find them lacking in one area or another, especially when the student has an immense passion for the subject. In this case, my beef with the professor could be in the small annoyances (such as her obvious love for the phrase "and so forth" or her compulsive need to check off her points one by one as she reads them off her notes), but alas, it is much deeper!
I have had the privilege of learning art history from three professors so far, but only one stands out so brilliantly in my mind. She was so passionate about the subject, and while she was one the strictest teachers I have had to date, she made nearly every single student in her classes thrilled to death about ART! My college art history classes have been a fair mix of majors, art majors, and those who are merely taking the class for the sake of the credits (this last group always being the majority). I'm going to be bold and go so far as to say the teachers really should start catering to the majority. Ms. Creel made taking her class a fun experience for nearly everyone because of her boisterous nature and the ferocity with which she attacked her subject. She showed us all the little "cool" things about each piece of artwork and always kept the context in mind, but never bogged us down with too much information. It was fast paced and demanding, but so interesting!
The thing is, I think professors have this horrid habit of taking their own subject(s) too gosh darn serious, often forgetting what it's like to be the student who has no knowledge of the subject what-so-ever, forgetting what it is like to look at the artwork with fresh eyes, new to that side of the world, forgetting what it's like to be the student that is only trying to fill an art or an elective requirement.
My music appreciation professor for example, reminds me so much of Ms. Creel it's absolutely fabulous! He's silly and ridiculous at times, but it draws the whole class into his "lectures." He doesn't force information down our throats- he gives it to us and hopes we'll be as excited as we are encouraged by it! I love that!
Anyways... I have been dwelling on this stuff since classes started, and I had to put it somewhere... and I know that not everyone cares particularly about my opinions on this matter- or on any matter ... so up here it goes, as the action becomes a desire to send into a cosmic void of sorts.

Have a blissful Valentine's Day.