CA Professor Under Fire For Having Students Strip Nude During Final
A professor at University of California San Diego has come under fire after asking his students to take their art class final in the nude.
Associate professor Ricardo Dominguez, who has taught "Performing the Self" for 11 years, told ABC News 10 that students are made aware of his expectations—part of a "gesture" meant to evoke the "erotic self"— at the start of the semester. A parent's complaint about the final is the first time anyone's had an issue, he says.
“Nothing was ever explained, nothing was ever stipulated prior to Thursday," said a mother who's child is in Dominguez's class. "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.”
During the final , Dominguez, along with 20 or so students, strips down in a dark room lit only by candlelight. Then they perform their "gestures."
"It's a standard canvas for performance art and body art," Dominguez says. “It is very all controlled. If they are uncomfortable with this gesture they should not take the class."
Dr. Jordan Crandall, chair of the university's visual arts department, stands behind Dominguez: “Removing your clothes is not required in this class," he clarified. "The course is not required for graduation. Students...can do the gesture in any number of ways without actually having to remove their clothes. One can 'be' nude while being covered."
Is the anonymous mother right to be concerned—or is all fair in love and art school?
