Week VII

Mock Presentation Week & Notes

During this seventh week dedicated to the final project, I’ve had to focus the direction of the project a little bit better. I have noticed a great lack of time in my life, which is causing the research to stall a bit. I have not been able to conduct primary research yet, although I am already preparing the questions for the teachers on my contact list. Nevertheless, my lecturers have been very supportive of what I have presented so far, and their feedback in general has been very helpful and positive. I hope that in the coming weeks, I can finally conduct the interviews, surveys, and questions that I will be preparing soon.

This week's presentation went very well, and both Danielle and Fiona seemed satisfied with what I presented. Their feedback focused mainly on the need to analyze the Irish curriculum this week, find out what the context is here in Ireland, and make the project much more applicable in a tangible way. Fiona recommended that I speak to Katy Hessel, a journalist and writer whom I have been following for quite some time, and Danielle suggested Kate Drinane, who works at the National Gallery; two interesting professionals that I have added to my contact list. The presentation slides are available in the button below, in case you want to have a look at my work from the last few weeks!

To update this blog post, I am adding at the end the questions that I have been able to develop and have already sent to three teachers. While none of them has replied yet, they have confirmed their intention to help me with the project and I hope to finally have some answers next week. I have taken the liberty of including the said questions below for your reference:

• Their Own Experience

  · First of all, I would like to know a little about your own experience as an Art History student, especially at university. Ángeles Caso mentioned in the prologue to her book the long debates that she had with her classmates about the lack of female representation in what they studied. Did you feel such a lack in your academic years? What were your opinions on the subject? Were you inclined to use your own resources in finding female artists that seemed to be missing from your education?

  · Have you had any personal interest in this topic? And if so, did you ever consider transmitting that knowledge to your students, of course within your possibilities?

  · Did knowing about women artists influence your way of analyzing and understanding art in any way? Did knowing of its existence cause you any kind of personal development?

• In The Classroom

  · From your point of view, and after your experience in the educational field, what type of evolution -if there has been one- have you been able to observe in the treatment of women artists in the Art History in the Spanish agenda throughout these years? What was the situation in your last years as a teacher, did you find any impediment when it came to mentioning them?

  · In your Art History classes, could you tell me if there is, in general, a majority of female students, or of male students? Was there any interest or concern on the part of the students to know if there were women artists before Frida Kahlo, for example? If you mentioned them, what was the general reaction of the class?

• Personal Take on the Matter

  · We speak of Art History with a gender perspective or gender approach when we analyze society and its history from a perspective that shows the different aspects that cause differences in opportunities between the different genres. One of the main issues that arise when mentioning this is the ‘political indoctrination’ of students and ‘presenteeism’ when analyzing art. Do you think they could be a risk when teachers include the gender perspective?

  · I can imagine that the obligatory standards in the last year of high school have always been an impediment when it comes to extending the curriculum. What do you think could be a good way to ‘force’ teachers to include women artists in the educational curriculum? Is it enough with a standard mentioning the gender approach -as in the new educational reform-?

1. Currículo LOMLOE Segundo Curso Bachillerato (no date) Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional. Gobierno de España. Available at: https://educagob.educacionyfp.gob.es/gl/curriculo/curriculo-lomloe/menu-curriculos-basicos/bachillerato/materias/historia-arte/criterios-eval-segundo-curso.html (Accessed: February 24, 2023).

2. Fajardo Galarreta, A. (2016) La inclusión de mujeres artistas y la perspectiva de género en el currículo de Historia del Arte de Bachillerato. Thesis.

3. Nochlin, L. (2020) From 1971: Why have there been no great women artists?, ARTnews.com. ARTnews.com. Available at: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists-4201/ (Accessed: Febuary 24, 2023).

4. Nochlin, L. (2021) Why have there been no great women artists? London: Thames & Hudson.

5. Tenenbaum, E. (2022) La Mirada Inquieta: Cómo disfrutar del arte con tus propios ojos. Barcelona: Temas de Hoy.

Feel free to read my other blog posts! You can find them here.