Proposal: Establishing a Filipino Studies Group at Stanford University
I. Overview:
Establishing a Filipino Studies Group, a multi-disciplinary, student-focused and curriculum-oriented academic association dedicated to the discussion, re-framing and re-thinking of the Filipino narrative in the United States and in the World. It will draw discussants, researchers and resource lecturers from various disciplines relevant to the Filipino experience into an academic and intellectual space. The goal is to develop interdisciplinary course offerings within participating Stanford departments to be taught by visiting lecturers or tenure-track appointments thereby providing the consistent faculty attention necessary for its development.
It will establish and coordinate an annual calendar of events with lectures, symposia, film events, and performances that highlight the Filipino presence and which in time will constitute the material, resources and inspiration for serious undergraduate and doctoral research.
It will recommend an aggressive program of collections development for the Libraries, especially of materials that are archival in nature and, particularly of new media (analog and digital productions), a media that has shown remarkable resonance with the new Filipino expression.
It will encourage, nurture, and develop Stanford students especially those with Filipino heritage background to direct their curricular goals towards acquiring knowledge and skills that resonate with their cultural heritage and the furtherance of that heritage?s contributions for a just and equal society.
II. Organizational Planning
The FSG would best operate with the PASU, FACs and the Asian American Studies Program,/CRSE. For the campus organizations, a committee head should be chosen to liaise with their FSG. The participation of these constituent groups will ensure not only critical mass, but also encourage democratic participation with abilities to address issues within the community as a whole, albeit, each with their own unique organizational objectives. It would also be a student organization and thereby avail of funds and university resources for operational and programmatic needs.
Alternatively, the FSG can exist under the aegis of the Asian American Studies/CSRE, programmatically and strategically, to provide relevant academic and intellectual resources to the students until sufficient funds can be generated to operate as a sole organization if so desired.
III. Proposed Programme:
A. Develop Symposium topics such as:
Family, identity and the historical reconstruction of the Filipino psychology in the U.S.
The Filipino in the World: Migrants, Maids, and Marines
The Filipino in the US: Staking out Identity in Film and Theater (Film and Art Festival)
Filipino-American Writing: Rewriting a new imaginary or is it?
The economics of terror: reshaping Philippine-U.S relations in the Asia-Pacific region
Memories of a forgotten Empire, 1898-1972
Filipinos on the Net: Imagined communities and Cyber-bayans (village)
Collaborative partnerships with the Institute of Diversity in the Arts, IIS, Overseas Studies Program, and Haas Center will also be developed including Bay Area Universities.
B. Identification of Faculty resources with interests in Filipino scholarship (Stanford University and other universities) and developing an on-line who?s who in the field.
Stanford:
Anthony Antonio, minority education, School of Education
Eduardo Capulong, urban studies, School of Law
Martin Lewis, international relations, IIS
Bruce Lusignan, ethics and society, School of Engineering
Gordon Chang, Asian history, Department of History
David Palumbo-Liu, Asian-Am history, CSRE, Comparative Literature
C. Conduct discussion meetings:
Monthly formal/informal presentations of relevant topics by undergrad/grad students, including Tagalog tutorials.
