loved her very sweet professor easy to talk to!

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!