Fall 2021: AAST Open Class Series
This Fall, several AAST classes will be welcoming guest speakers into their classroom and selected AAST class sessions will be open to the UMD community. Below is a list of open classes.
Speaker: Walter Cabal
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
3:30pm - 4:45pm
AAST394 Growing Up Asian American: The Asian Immigrant Family and the Second Generation (Instructor: Dr. Yeram Cheong)
Topic: Cultivating My Imagination Helped Me Find My Way in the United States
Walter Cabal is a Filipino-Japanese designer and writer who describes his calling as bridging the world of ideas with the world of touchable things.
In 2014, he founded Cabal Crafted, a craft/design studio specializing in blending traditional leather craft with an architectural approach to handcraft. With Cabal Crafted, Walter is interested in cultivating a culture that slows down to pay attention to the value of ordinary things, by designing things worth slowing down for, and modeling a way of daily living, and working.
His propensity to slow down and pay attention—especially for people—materialized in the form of narrative style editorial pieces and interviews with international artists, designers, and activists who are shaping the current culture with their creative imagination and work. His work has been published digitally and physically by publications inside the US and in Canada. He has also previously been a guest speaker at the Zapara School of Business at La Sierra University.
Walter earned his BA in Philosophy from the University of California Riverside and currently resides in the greater LA area.
Browse more at waltercabal.com.
Speaker: Peter Bacho
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
5:00pm - 6:00pm
AAST363 Filipino American History & Biography (Instructor: Gem Daus)
Topic: Uncle Rico's Encore: Mostly True Stories of Filipino Seattle Book Talk
Peter Bacho is the award-winning author of several books, including the novel Cebu and the short story collection Dark Blue Suit.
Peter Bacho is the author of seven books: Cebu, Dark Blue Suit, Boxing in Black and White, Nelson's Run, Entrys, Leaving Yesler, and his latest, a memoir, Uncle Rico’s Encore: Mostly True Stories of Filipino Seattle.
His books have received several awards, including the 1992 American Book Award for his novel CEBU. His memoir, to be released in January 2022 by the University of Press, has already received outstanding reviews.
Bacho teaches at The Evergreen State College. He was born in Seattle and grew up in the city’s famed Central Area.
Uncle Rico's Encore: Mostly True Stories of Filipino Seattle description: From the 1950s through the 1970s, blue-collar Filipino Americans, or Pinoys, lived a hardscrabble existence. Immigrant parents endured blatant racism, sporadic violence, and poverty while their US-born children faced more subtle forms of racism, such as the low expectations of teachers and counselors in the public school system. In this collection of autobiographical essays, acclaimed novelist and short-story writer Peter Bacho centers the experiences of the Pinoy generation that grew up in Seattle’s multiethnic neighborhoods, from the Central Area to Beacon Hill to Rainier Valley. He recounts intimate moments of everyday life: fishing with marshmallows at Madison Beach, playing bruising games of basketball at Madrona Park, and celebrating with his uncles in Chinatown as hundreds of workers returned from Alaska canneries in the fall. He also relates vivid stories of defiance and activism, including resistance to the union-busting efforts of the federal government in the 1950s and organizing for decent housing and services for elders in the 1970s. Sharing a life inextricably connected to his community and the generation that came before him, this memoir is a tribute to Filipino Seattle.