Week 10_Natalie Lortz_ASA 150E

        I thought I knew what to expect when I added ASA 150E to my schedule for Winter Quarter. If I'm honest, it was not my first pick initially. However, looking back at the quarter, I was wrong about what I would learn about in this class. Yes, we went over the ancient history of the Southeast Asian countries including notable events, with a large focus on the Viet Nam War, as well as present-day issues in the Southeast Asian American communities. But, what I did not expect to learn was how to structure an art exhibit. When adding ASA 150E to my schedule, I did not realize I would discover a new interest in museum curating in addition to cultivating skills in event planning. I became passionate about not only the impact of the Viet Nam War, but the message that I am trying to convey with our exhibit, which is essentially to include more perspectives.
       This class taught me not only to learn about history, but to learn about as many perspectives of history as possible. It is narrow-minded to focus on one person's perspective of a situation, and it would be exponentially narrow-minded to do the same for an entire world event, such as the Viet Nam War. I'm sure other classmates will agree when I say it would be nice if we had a broad breadth of the SEA countries, rather than focus on Viet Nam. We are lucky to be taught by Professor Valverde, a resident expert on Viet Nam to say the least. But, I think students could get more out of the class if we invited guest lecturers whose expertise was similar to Professor Valverde, but for different countries, such as Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, etc. That, I believe would be the best way to remedy that problem.
Otherwise, Thank you Professor Valverde and Van for an amazing quarter. You guys are great at what you do and I value your dedication, perspectives, and attitudes.