"[The course] teaches you to be able to go into a museum and look at a painting in a new way, to recognize patterns throughout art and figure things out about the painting from within the painting, rather than looking to a chronology for context," says Katherine C. Heller '02.

Elizabeth A. Haynes '98 echoed Heller's sentiments.

"By studying art from a thematic perspective, art reinvents itself as a byproduct of the approach to seeing," she says.

But others find the class less clear than if it were arranged chronologically.

A chronological format, says Emily H. Stauffer '98-'99, would give students "a sense that they were learning things in an organized way and we would have been able to process the information more easily."

Although the instructors do not see chronology in Literature and Arts B-10 as the best way to achieve the goals of the class, they acknowledge that it is an important part in the study of art.

"Chronology is an extremely effective way of organizing the study of art;" Koerner writes. "How could it be otherwise, when time is real and irreversible!"

"Chronology remains the organizing mode of the introductory courses that are offered in more manageable historical fields," he added.

All of the introductory History of Art and Architecture courses are examples, he says. These courses explore different areas of art history in chronological context.

Always 'Secretly Thematic'

English professors must also decide if organizing a class chronologically or thematically is more useful.

"A chronological approach...is always in some sense secretly thematic, since one cannot possibly read everything," says Levin Professor of Literature Stephen J. Greenblatt, who is teaching English 124c: "Shakespearean Conjuring," this semester.

It covers the theatrical writings of Shakespeare and scenes of conjuring, exorcism and magic. Texts range from "The Witch of Edmonton" and "Twelfth Night" to "Macbeth" and "The Tempest."

"Each approach can address a wide range of texts, and, for that matter, can be defined narrowly," Greenblatt added.

Many of the classes offered within the English department, such as English 90s: "Virginia Woolf," are about a specific author, while others, such as English 179k: "American Autobiography," deal with specific areas.