Ph.D. Candidacy and Passing my Prospectus Defense and Qualification Exams in 2020
Image: Guillermo "Yermo" Aranda and Los Toltecas en Aztlán, La Dualidad (The Duality), 1970-1984, El Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego, CA.
After publishing my second M.A. Thesis, "Chican@ Time Warp: The Enduring Legacies of Chicano Muralism Displayed in Guillermo "Yermo" Aranda's and Los Toltecas en Aztlán's Mural La Dualidad (The Duality)," I immediately began studying and preparing for qualifications exams. It was the summer of 2019 and although there was no time to relax, I did celebrate the best I could. I still kept thinking about my thesis as I studied.
Fall 2020 I started qualification exams, two weeks of constant writing and analytical thinking. So much stress, sleepless nights, I ate with my laptop, and sadly neglected time with my partner and family. That is what it takes sometimes to get your work done. Good news, I passed my exams without revisions. This was another amazing moment to celebrate, but kept it moving. Winter quarter 2020 to Spring 2020 I wrote my dissertation prospectus. I defended my prospectus via Zoom, a virtual meeting with my five committee members, nearing the end of Spring 2020. UCLA campus closed on March 2020, after St. Patrick's Day, and I moved from Los Angeles to Glendale Arizona to be with my partner as he finished his first year in graduate school. This was an intense, stressful, yet happy moment in my life. Also, the pandemic shutdowns, quarantine measurements, were enacted and I had to be careful moving to a red-state that does not believe in wearing face masks. The vaccine was a distant goal that was only imaginable as a possible future.
The flames from the left section of the mural La Dualidad reminded me of what I was feeling as I wrote my dissertation prospectus during a global pandemic year. The pain Cuauhtémoc felt, I could only imagine. I am not saying I am placing my stresses and feelings as equal to the pain Cuauhtémoc felt when his feet were burned and he was tortured by the Spanish colonialists, no. But, the feelings of loss, tragedy, injustice, despair, melancholic thoughts lingered in my mind. I still kept writing.
June 2020 and I passed my qualifications exams and prospectus defense. I did not get to spend time with my committee members in person. Several cohorts before me had the best experience exiting the room after deliberations by your dissertation committee to get the green light to finish the manuscript. I wish I felt that in person, but I did feel it virtually. I celebrated in Arizona with my partner and all I kept thinking about was how California was doing during shutdowns in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
I am so grateful for everyone supporting me throughout this Ph.D. journey. As a first generation graduate student this means the world to me. My dissertation is an interdisciplinary social art historical study on womxn artists and muralists since the beginning of the Chicano art movement. I will explain more about it in this blog as a visual and textual map of my dissertation project.
Muchas Gracias!
Gabriela Rodriguez-Gomez, Ph.D. Candidate
Spring 2020
Image: Dr. Charlene Villaseñor Black, Chair, Dr. Karina Alma, Dr. Guisela Latorre, Dr. Alicia Gaspar de Alba, and Alma López Gaspar de Alba -- my dissertation committee.
Saludos,
Gaby R. Gomez
