I absolutely loved this class! Professor Martinez is so nice, welcoming, insightful, and funny. You can tell she absolutely loves what she does. In terms of the actual class, the course is very easy. It would honestly be surprising if you did not get an A in this class, given how lenient she is with grading. As long as you follow the rubric, you will get a 100% on your assignment, even if she disagrees with you or your paper isn’t the best. This class was meant to be in-person, but due to unforeseen circumstances for Professor Martinez, the class went entirely online at the start of week 4, and I honestly think it was for the best. I found that the online format was more engaging than the in-person classes. Additionally, the class is about 2 hours long, so having it go online was definitely a lot easier to get through rather than sitting in a classroom for 2 hours. That being said, attendance is mandatory. While in-person, Professor Martinez had a sign-in sheet before class started. Online, Professor Martinez saved the Zoom chat log to see who was in attendance and who participated. The movies that Professor Martinez assigns are all provided to you. Two books were assigned to this course, but Professor Martinez told us that one was not necessary, so we did not have to buy it. However, another book is needed and costs about $15 in the UCLA store. The required book is not available for inclusive access, so you must physically buy it.

Here’s the grade breakdown:
PARTICIPATION: 15% of your grade. This is pretty self-explanatory. As long as you participate, you’re good!
COURSE JOURNAL: 20% of your grade. There are 10 course journals assigned, but you only need to do 5 of them. You can choose whatever 5 journals you want to. All journals are out of 4 points. The journal is 150-500 words, in MLA format, double-spaced, and must include quotes from the readings, lectures, and movies to get full credit. Basically, you write what happened in that week’s lectures/assigned material and give her your thoughts on everything.
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT: 30% of your grade. This project is your midterm. You choose someone in your life to interview for 30 minutes and write a 4-5 paper on it. MLA format and double-spaced is necessary. The main question of the paper/project is, “How does your subject’s experience coincide with American/Chicano or Mexican/Latin American history(ies)?” So, you will interview someone you know and write a paper on how their life corresponds with American/Chicano history. The subject doesn’t have to be of Chicano/Latino descent, but considering this is a Chicano Studies class, and the course goes over Chicano history through film and readings, the assignment will be a lot easier if you interview someone of Chicano/Latino descent. This assignment definitely seems intimidating, but it’s really not that bad. All you do is interview someone and make the interview into an essay.
FINAL PAPER: 35% of your grade. The final is also in MLA format, double-spaced, and is 5-6 papers. This paper is a continuation of your oral history project but is a research paper version of your oral history project. So, you don’t interview again. Instead, you explore a topic in American/Chicano or Mexican/Latin American history that ties to your oral history interview or to your personal familial or community’s history. For example, if your interviewee mentions the Chicano walkouts in 1968, you can write your research paper on the Chicano walkouts. Whatever your interview subject mentions regarding American/Chicano history is free game for the final paper.

I thought all of the films were amazing and eye-opening. The first 5 weeks of films are documentaries, and the second half of the quarter are all dramas/fiction. The readings were never long, but they were definitely a bit weird, to say the least. It’s okay if you read one of the assigned excerpts/chapters and you don’t understand it, Professor Martinez anticipates it. She always goes into depth about the films and readings, so if you don’t understand something that was said or something that happened, she will explain it. Overall, I loved this class so much! Professor Martinez made the class even better. She is such a caring and sweet teacher, and I plan on retaking her again in the future. If it’s not obvious already, I highly recommend this course!

Amazing professor and class! I highly recommend Professor Celina Martinez. I am graduating this year but if I could take her classes in the future I definitely would. I have taken other classes that are so packed with information there is no way I can remember any of the content but Professor Martinez connects the content through each lecture. There are weekly journals that help with reflecting on the content of the class and two main projects.
I enjoyed this class and learned about Latinx culture through films, two textbooks, weekly readings, lectures, and discussions. A great class!

This was my first class at UCLA as a transfer student and it was AMAZING! I enjoyed this class a lot and I was able to connect with my roots. The class consisted of 5 journal entries that were 500 words each, double-spaced, and about the film of the week (she provides 10 journal entries but you only have to do 5, they're really easy too!). There are two textbooks (really easy read) required that went into depth about the films and needed to be used for the term paper. Each week she assigns a film to watch on your own time before class (she provides the films on canvas/bruin learn) and what chapters to read of each book (usually 1 chapter of each book). The midterm was a creative project which was super easy! She includes the rubric of what she expects and if you complete each area you'll get full points. The final was an 8-10 page term paper (double-spaced) in which you need to analyze one of the films by answering a prompt or two that she offers or you can make up you're own prompt, you must include quotes from the readings (she also sends out the rubric and instructions). Attendance is mandatory, she makes you sign in on a notebook everyday day for class. As for participation, you can either participate during class by answering questions, asking questions, commenting on something from the books or films, by talking with a partner, or if you couldn't attend class or didn't do any of the above options of participation, you can answer the weekly question in the discussion post and you don't have to respond to anyone's post. She also responds to emails quickly. 10/10 recommend this class

I was really excited about this class, and the topic is still interesting to me. However, this is probably the worst professor I have ever had. She frequently gets off topic, and she has told us more about her life than she has about anything else. She recently got off topic telling a story about being drunk and seeing Woody Allen. She complains about her family a lot, and then loses her train of thought. She also frequently says things like, "cringe" and "You don't want to know what I think about that". That being said, the readings are really interesting so I am at least learning from those. You'll get an easy A, but it doesn't feel worth it because sitting in class is a chore.

this was my first class in the department and wow I very much enjoyed this professor. she is so engaging and every class I laughed and enjoyed what we learned. the films and readings were very interesting so I didn't mind them.
assignments were based on journals only 5 out of the whole quarter and a midterm / final which was an oral history paper and a research paper about ur oral paper. it was very easy if you follow the directions and particapte.

this is probably one of the easiest classes I have taken at UCLA. Professor Martinez cares about her students and was very accommodating in terms of deadlines and grading. Participation is heavily graded in this class but the lectures and films are interesting. Our assignments were: 5 weeks of 150-500 word journals, one creative project, and a 8-10 page final paper. No tests or quizzes. This class is very laidback and I definitely recommend taking it!