Introduction to the Filipinx-American Experience (GISP)

Have you ever wondered how to create a GISP? We interviewed Isabel Acevedo '21 (she/hers), Vanessa Garcia '20.5 (they/them), and Mateo Encarnacion '21 (he/his) to ask how they navigated the application process. 

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How did the idea for the GISP come about?

 IA: I think it's always kind of been something that we've wanted to do. I've been on the board for Filipino Alliance since I was a freshman. Every time we talked to people who had heard about the Tagalog language GISP in past years go through, they'd say, oh it'd be great if we could make this happen again. 

I know so many people who don't speak Tagalog or who speak a bit and have forgotten. I think that's something we all share. We either want to get better at Tagalog, or we want to learn how to speak. 

 VG: In terms of including Filipinx culture and history into the course syllabus, that has been productive as well because you can see [aspects of culture and history] reflected in the language.

How did you find a faculty sponsor?

 IA: That was Jamie [Advincula], who was originally the student coordinator for this. She found there aren't many Filipinx faculty. Professor Nazareno [is our sponsor], and Don Operario has been coming into class and helping us with discussions sometimes.

Another reason why we chose Professor Nazareno is that she works to connect us in this academic setting with the Philippines. She brings in Ph.D. candidates from the University of the Philippines and connects them with our class.

When we got in touch with her, just based on the fact that she was the only Filipinx faculty that we knew of, it ended up working out for us. She had a lot more resources than we could have anticipated, so we thought she would be the best choice for our sponsor. 

 VG: I also took her class last year called Immigrant Entrepreneurship. I'm interested in bridging this gap between diaspora Filipinx-American experiences and the experiences in the Philippines and the spaces in between. Prof. Nazareno is masterful at doing that in a way that is grounded in a lot of dense theory.

 IA: Also, the fact that she shares our identity is important. She understands where we're coming from and why we're interested in these questions. I think she understands the personal aspects. She's been checking on us and asking how do these theoretical things affect you in your own life and experience? How does it make you consider yourself? Is this difficult to hear? Is it difficult to read these critical theories that hit so close to home?

 VG: On that note of Prof. Nazareno making space and asking if anyone has a different experience, she asked what is everyone's positionality with being Filipinx? It was not like everyone had to have this similar narrative.