What I'll Take Away from AMST103

Overall, I think the most important part of this class to me has been thinking about both race and Los Angeles and my personal connection to both of them.  First off, I learned a lot of the early history of Los Angeles and California.  Having just moved to California from Massachusetts for college, this class gave me more of a background of the space where I am living and I like having this connection to the history.  Of course I had learned some things before in US History, but I think in elementary school, each state tends to focus on its own history. (Which is apparently why I learned about pilgrims every year instead of missions.)  Before I came here for college, my experience with California consisted of three vacations that my family had taken to visit relatives out here and do the typical touristy things- San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, Sea World, etc. I saw CA as a vacation spot, and as a young child I never thought about the state’s past.  Also, in this class I learned more about the culture of LA than I might have found out about from just being in Claremont.  Los Angeles functions as a space demarcation which we used to focus our studies of race.  For me it also is now the place where I am living for at least four years of my life.  I think learning about the history of Los Angeles can make me feel more connected to the place where I am.

In addition, this class has brought to my attention issues of race that I had never really considered before.  I was aware of race before, but had never really given the idea much consideration.  This class has brought up many questions for me which I have been considering and which I think I will need to continue to contemplate.  These thoughts include questions like whether race even can or should be defined, to what extent defining race is helpful or not, how I individually identify my race, whether I even need to, and whether it is meaningful to even question my race.  My answers to these questions are still not fully formed, and can vary from day to day.  I think that finding the answers to these questions will contribute to my personal identity, both literally by defining my racial identity, but also by defining where I stand on important racial and societal issues.  In kind of a cliché sequence of events, this class has helped me to explore my individuality and get to know myself better.  Although I never would have expected it from an Intro to American Cultures class, I have had a great opportunity to learn things about myself I never would have thought to ask myself.