"He Said, Study Political Science" is part of Barraza’s "Dreams" series, which is more closely linked to folk beliefs and practices than to anything else, blending Roman Catholic and Indigenous influences. As part of the "Dreams" series, the work liberates certain aspects of a suppressed nature from social constraints. For the artist, dreams are sources of inspiration from the deepest self. Her dreams reveal parts of herself she has suppressed; personality and emotions emerge to the surface. When interpreting her dreams, she can decode the behavioral codes imposed on women and free the parts of herself that have remained unexplored. During her studies at the University of Texas at Austin in the early 1970s, Barraza developed an interest in printmaking. “I started taking some classes in printmaking with Ken Hale, and he encouraged me to use my dreams because I would do these monoprints that were very direct memories or sections of my dreams,” says Barraza in a 2003 oral history interview for the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.