spring 2019

And… That’s a Wrap!

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Image result for humanities coreStarting the research project, what was supposed to be the culmination of my Humanities Core experience, seemed incredibly daunting. Each topic seemed equally interesting; all the lecturers had brought their intricate arguments to class, ideas that helped me interact on a much deeper basis with the material introduced. These interactions were crucial to shaping my current worldview, adding a rich depth and understanding to my educational experience (by relation, personal opinions too) that I could not have obtained anywhere else.

Initially, I had wanted to discuss the immigration experiences of Asian Americans, and the struggle to establish an identity with the clashing of two very polarizing cultures that often occurred as result of the borderlands. Professor Lazo had discussed such a concept early fall quarter, and Professor Vo had touched upon again in the spring; both brought very interesting perspectives that resonated deeply with me. For although I was born here in America, the conflict within my own borderlands – with the traditional Vietnamese side of me warring with the more liberal attitudes I was raised upon – continues to contribute to the formation of my person and identity to this day.

Image result for hard searchingHowever, the search for an artifact lead nowhere. There were no aha! moments, no inspiration that struck. There was nothing that I loved enough to dedicate 5-6 weeks of careful scrutiny, tears, and put hard work into, an important factor my seminar leader Professor Walsh had stressed multiple times in class.

So I turned to popular culture. Watching Avengers: Endgame, the very last movie in the Marvel franchise series, was an experience for me as an avid fan for the last 11 years Image result for movie theater(see the previous blogpost, The Binary of the Other Embedded in the Superhero of Marvel’s Avengers:Endgame). However, I was not the same child I was when I had watched Iron Man in 2008. After being exposed to the different ideas Humanities Core had taught me, I realized that I had developed a slightly more critical perspective – one that solely didn’t soak up the piece of entertainment at face value. I had begun to actively analyze the subversive messages, ones that reminded me of empire and its ruins; as I was watching, I observed the presence of binary oppositions that ruled the cinematic world as much as they ruled our realities, symbols that provided commentary on the changing political atmospheres of the present.

This ties in with what Professor Block claimed at the beginning of spring quarter: that the personal is political. I have come to the realization that much of what we create has meaning, whether we intend to or not — nothing produced by a human being can remain free of political opinion or cultural influence. Nothing is without bias.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Everything that shapes our experiences – whether the historical, the cultural, or the political – affects the people we are today, and in turn, is reflected in our works of art.

Image result for captain america the winter soldier

Being equipped with the lens that Humanities Core has gifted me has encouraged me to think critically, and to recognize the bias that comes with the creation of any piece of culture that I consume. And I am forever grateful for that.

Now nearing the end of the project, I am glad to say that I have finally decided on anartifact [Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), one of the films within the Marvel franchise], and am deep in the process of writing my paper, having discovered a plethora of scholarly discourse concerning the imperial themes that lay submersed within the two hour long action-packed narrative. I am extremely excited to develop this paper, and in the process, hopefully be able to successfully contribute to the academia already surrounding my artifact.

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