When a female student from the University of California-San Diego told her mom that she is supposed to perform in the nude as part of her final exams for her Visual Arts class, she did not expect her mother to be outraged. In her anger, the mother, who refused to be named, went to the press to expose the class and its professor, Ricardo Dominguez.
Speaking anonymously with 10News, the mother said, "It bothers me. I'm not sending her to school for this. To blanket say you must be naked in order to pass my class. It makes me sick to my stomach."
Dominguez, who teaches a class called "Visual Arts 104A: Performing the Self," only confirmed the mother's fears. He said that the final exams did involve nudity. However, the professor explained that the daughter may not have understood the whole assignment.
"Students are aware from the start of the class that it is a requirement. The ambiguity around the question of 'nudity' and 'nakedness' is intentional," said the professor through Yahoo Parenting. He further clarified that this exam was an "option" and the students need not be nude when performing. "Students learn that they can do the gesture in any number of ways without actually having to remove their clothes," the professor added, pointing out that he's been teaching the class for 11 years and he has yet to receive a complaint, except for this instance.
The university is behind Dominguez as well. They released a statement about the issue, as reported in UPI. UCSD's head of the Visual Arts Department, Dr. Jordan Crandall, said, "Removing your clothes is not required in this class. The course is not required for graduation." Crandall also noted that the comments from other students who have taken the class can be searched online.
One student said that the professor explained the assignment more than once. "Each of us are supposed to choose a part of us that is more 'us' than the rest of us (big toe, shoulder, whatever) and hold up a light to it (candle or flashlight, whatever you choose) and explain why. No one's genitalia will be on display unless that is what they choose," said Jacquelyn Bulkowski in the Yahoo Parenting report.
Despite all these statements, the mother was not appeased. Meanwhile, the issue gained both negative and positive responses in 10News' Facebook Page. As a parent, would you be outraged if this happened to your daughter or would you not fuss over the assignment? Please answer our poll below.
