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Erica Gilbert-Levin I am a fourth-year student with a major in Government. I have been on an extended medical leave of absence from the
College of Arts and Sciences for several years, recovering from an illness, and now I am in the (very slow!) process of completing my remaining
credits on a long-distance basis. I was born in Evanston, Illinois, home to Northwestern University, Lake Michigan, and beautiful trees, and
now live in Upland, California, with my parents and two dogs. I have worked for Ms. Magazine, Move On, a political organization, and several
local newspapers in Chicago. I spend a lot of time reading and writing, hanging out with my friends, and doing yoga. I am one of those people
who is a fixture at independent coffee shops and bookstore. I like to talk (usually not to myself) politics, philosophy, and theory, and I used to
play soccer fairly competitively. This is the second Art History course I've taken at Cornell. The first was Black Arts Movement, which I took
last summer, also online and also with Professor Finley, and after that I began some independent research on race and art. I have always been
into politics and culture (and the politics of culture, and the culture of politics), but I tend to be timid about art since I know very little about art
in a purely aesthetic sense. But since Black Arts Movement, I've come to understand more concretely how relevant art is to the development
and maintenance of political and social realities as well as to political and social change. My world has been opened up, and I am excited
about another class! Nice to "meet" you all!