Karina Gonzalez
Ramela Abbamontian is the new full-time art teacher at Pierce. Although she came to the campus last spring for one class, she is now a full-time instructor. Her classes this semester include Art History I and II, as well as Asian art history.
After Abbamontian graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a bachelor’s degree in art history, her route to graduate school and teaching was somewhat serendipitous.
When her job working in the family room at the Getty on Thursday evenings ended because the museum decided to close early on Thursdays, Abbamontian got involved with the architectural and garden tours there. She so enjoyed her experience bringing art and people together that she started to think about a career using art to impact the community.
Abbamontian also credits one of her instructors at UCLA, Albert Boime, with inspiring her passion for art history and for teaching. “He is one of the most incredible individuals I have ever met. He is passionate about the subject, passionate about his students, and never stops learning,” said Abbamontian.
That led to her master’s degree in art history at UCLA, which, in turn, led her to the doctoral program there. Her dissertation, which she plans to finish this year, looks at how diasporic Armenian artists living in Los Angeles handle the tensions of a historically uprooted existence.
With a full-time teaching position, a 1-year-old daughter, and a dissertation to finish, Abbamontian says that her main hobby–if she had time for one–would be sleep.
While working on her master’s degree at UCLA, Abbamontian was a teacher’s aide for one of her professors. Her work earned her the UCLA Distinguished Teacher Award, which resulted in accolades for the art history department because it was the first time one of their teachers had received that honor.
Her first professorship position teaching Art Appreciation at Pepperdine was a disaster, however. She was advised by a colleague familiar with Pepperdine students to be strict, to use a seating chart for her 150-student class, and to give lots of tests. Her students objected and gave her a low 1.6 overall rating on RateMyProfessors.com, a website relied on by many students when choosing classes.
“Without a doubt the worst class I have ever taken. Do not take this class. It is like she is trying to prove that Arts Appreach is a real class, when everyone knows it shouldn’t be. She marks you off for minor grammatical errors an papers, she puts random retarded stuff on quizes, and she makes us sit in assigned seats. Terrible Class!” commented one of her Pepperdine students.
She is aware that some people take a course like art history or art appreciation because they think it will be a “fluff” course, but cautions her students that there will be rigorous requirements that include plenty of writing. She often beseeches her husband, who is a middle school teacher, to make sure that his students can write when they get to her at the community college level.
There was also too much in the curriculum for the class at Pepperdine to meaningfully address in the time allotted. To its credit, Pepperdine has since redesigned the course to make it more manageable.
One student understood what she was trying to accomplish with the many required visits to local art museums, however, and stated “…she tries to make class fun and tries to make the arts ‘come alive’.”
While some instructors are experts in their subject areas but are not skilled communicators, Abbamontian has the instincts of a true teacher. She is constantly trying to improve her teaching. Her current students will never have the same experience as students in the previous semester, because Abbamontian continually refines assignments, lectures, activities, and projects to reflect what did or did not work with students in the previous semester.
“You should never be content with where you are,” she cautioned, “You should always be looking at how you can improve.” At Pepperdine, she felt “I was trying to be who I was not. When I relaxed and trusted my own instincts more, I became a much more effective teacher.”
She spoke highly of her Pierce students, whom she characterizes as hard-working, supportive of each other, and a rich source of the life experiences that art is all about.
“They bring so much to the classroom,” said Abbamontian.
Knowing that many Pierce students work, go to school, and have families to care for, Abbamontian tries to make sure their time in class is useful to them by making it relevant to their lives with issue-oriented projects that help them see art as the visual expression of their own lives. She is passionate about wanting them to connect art with their own lives.
“Art is alive. Art reflects our culture. Art is everywhere,” insisted Abbamontian. She wants students to understand the statements in their visual environment and think critically about them.
Her Pierce students spoke highly of her, as well. In contrast to the low Pepperdine rating, her overall rating from Pierce students was a 4.2 from the eight students who evaluated her on RateMyProfessors.com after the spring course she taught at Pierce. Their comments testified that the art course they took was rigorous, but well-taught.
“…REALLY great teacher! Very intellegent, encourages discussions, answers all questions, provides interesting information,”
“You have to work hard though to get good grade,”
“…art 101 is not an easy class,”
“Awesome teacher! Really cares about her subject and students. Prepare to do some work, but her enthusiasm and great personality make it a lot of fun. Highly recommended.”
When a recent student told her, “You’re the first teacher who wanted to know what I thought,” Abbamontian knew she was making a difference.