Week 10 Blog Post: Reflection on Course

First off I would like to say that this course has been really insightful and interesting. As a Political Science major, I thought I would never have to do so much drawing in my life! Although I might be the worst artist this world has ever seen, it challenged me and pushed me out of my comfort zone which I am really grateful for. At a university like UCLA, I think it is very important to explore and take classes that can give you insight on information outside of your major. I really enjoyed learning about these various Chicana artists and art pieces. Before this class, I could not name a single female artist let alone a Chicana female artist. Now I can name at least 10 Chicana female artists on the top of my head. I am also really grateful I was able to learn the challenges and hardships these Chicana artists face. Often times Chicana female artists are not given the recognition they deserve for their work because of the fact that they are female and Chicana. So I think it is really inspiring how a lot of these Chicana artists use their art to subvert the patriarchal society that oppresses women and make them feel subordinate to men. Their art is a political tool to fight against this and I find it very interesting how different Chicana female artists produce different mediums and themes within their art and they all have a unique artistic style but they all relate to the fact that the art is used to empower women! Also, I really enjoyed the fact that this class had in-person guest speakers multiple times throughout the quarter. My favorite guest speaker was Alicia Gaspar de Alba of week 2 when she came in and gave a presentation and gave insight to the class about art that related to themes of the class that we were learning. As a student, I believe it is very important for courses to have guest speakers every now and then to be able to hear from a different perspective about the topics you are learning about. So, I am really thankful that Professor Gaspar de Alba was open to and invited guest speakers to come in and be able to speak to us. Overall, this class was not a planned course I had for my future, I basically took this class because I needed a last-minute upper-division course and this class had pretty decent grade distributions, but I am leaving this course satisfied and full of knowledge. I was able to learn about a topic that was foreign to me. I am glad I was able to learn about a part of my heritage and culture that I had no insight on before this course, so thank you! And who knows, maybe I will take classes like these in the mere future!