Semester Reflections

Semester 3

This semester was crucial in addressing previous and socially integrated biases, especially due to how culture-heavy our colloquiums were. By tackling different art forms in different cultures, it really opened our eyes on the beauty of each culture and just how amazing art is in every form. A perfect example of this was the West African drumming class. Although people may have been cautious or uncertain at the beginning, it was clear everyone really enjoyed the workshop when we were allowed to be so immersed in the rhythms and music without any judgement around. This connects to how, as a whole, art is such a strong tool in reshaping people’s perspectives on different cultures and overall styles of living. Of course, the semester also included plentiful amounts of preparation for our capstone projects. This included learning practical strategies such as concept mapping as well as solidifying our research, whether it was scholarly or artistic. Later, we practiced the more creative aspect of brainstorming, which included play and prototyping as shown through our micro film-fest. From all these colloquiums, we would practice trusting ourselves and simply letting our ideas flow as well as adapting to the feedback given to us by peers and adjusting our plans accordingly. With outside feedback and ideas, we can build upon our own experiences to make a more harmonious project that can be more universally digested. 

Throughout the semester, I was so glad to take ENGL154 alongside CPSA200. It addresses core topics that the Art Scholars constantly tackle, such as racism rooted within animation as well as how political and societal movements shape the media that is created. Although my initial impression of the class was simply learning the history and basics of puppetry and children’s television, the class was a much more enriching experience that tackled several topics ranging from white nationalism and its impact on children’s television to the psyche of American killers who were abused at a young age.This class, with its great professor Chad Infante, was a phenomenal experience that I hope others can take not only to challenge their current beliefs but to simply learn about American art and television history in an extremely engaging and immersive way. 

In one instance, I was watching Princess Mononoke, a movie made by Studio Ghibli alongside the Community Learning Garden club. Although many first-time watchers were a bit confused, I took the time to really immerse myself into the film and all of its elements, as it was my third or fourth time watching the movie. With the experiences from both ENGL154 as well as CPSA200, I found the movie to be much more impactful this time around. It really touched my heart how beautifully crafted the world, characters, and each scene were. To create a piece so tangible such as a movie that really expresses your frustrations and passions in the world - with this expressing the destruction of nature that industrialization and capitalism bring - is one of my dreams. 

I've also learned the beauty of cooking. Having to cook more due to living in an apartment, I've ended up indulging in a lot more culinary content. It didn't really dawn on me just how amazing and in tune chefs must be to think of a new, innovative dish until I watched Culinary Class Wars, a Korean Netflix Series. Cooking really is a beauty of both the artistic world and chemistry - to create such a beautifully plated dish with ingredients that must compliment without overpowering each other is a finely tuned skill. While perhaps a shallow experience to others, this experience of digesting so many different mediums to its core really made it clear just how much art and the Art Scholars community means to me. 

Despite not being particularly active in the Art Scholars community, simply having the short opportunity to speak with others and take workshops alongside my peers gives me a small peek into the wondrous community I wish I integrated more into. Everyone is extremely friendly and open and the feedback they provide - most prominently when we are discussing our capstones - is always very insightful and without judgement. In addition, when we discuss our own opinions and perspectives, we are able to hold discussions without anger or frustration. A prominent example is from our first semester of Art Scholars, where we most often held discussions on different “hot topics”, including whether certain pieces should be classified as art. Having such a diverse group of people, especially because Art Scholars is one of the only scholars programs to bring in people from different backgrounds and majors, really made these discussions more 3-dimensional and incited more debate. In many cases, it may even change our own perspectives. 

Although I am not close to anyone specific within Art Scholars, I still enjoyed my time greatly in each class. Of course, a large part of this was my own introversion that got in the way of fully integrating myself, but I believe that even as a bystander I can see the amount of love this community has. Through the colloquiums, the field trips where I was able to witness such amazing art, and through the workshop previews, I’m able to still be a part of the community, which I am so thankful for. I wish that I could go back and push myself to talk to more people in the community at the very beginning of our Freshman year so I could have been more involved, but all I can do is continue to try.