About
The Bulosan Blog was created in Fall 2019 to celebrate and highlight the work done by the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies' interns. The Center relies on the work of its interns to accomplish its goals, and so it seemed fitting to provide them with an outlet to share their experiences. Our hope is that the Bulosan Blog encourages other UC Davis undergraduates to join the Bulosan Center and assist us in making both academia and the world a more equitable place.
The original team responsible for creating the blog included UC Davis undergraduates Bailey Franzen, Chelsea Soriano, and Venera Mandanas. They were led by Bulosan Center Senior Editor Nicholas Garcia, who was himself advised by the Center's Senior Historian, Stacey Salinas.
The graphic of Carlos Bulosan adorning the Bulosan Blog's home page was designed and created by Bailey Franzen over several weeks during the Fall of 2019. Chelsea Soriano was responsible for coming up with several creative ideas that were implemented into the site's creation.
In the Winter of 2020, the Bulosan Blog team expanded to include UC Davis undergraduates Diane Javier and Jessica Tualla, both of whom lent their expertise as writers to craft the blog's very first articles.
To learn more about the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies, click here.
The original team responsible for creating the blog included UC Davis undergraduates Bailey Franzen, Chelsea Soriano, and Venera Mandanas. They were led by Bulosan Center Senior Editor Nicholas Garcia, who was himself advised by the Center's Senior Historian, Stacey Salinas.
The graphic of Carlos Bulosan adorning the Bulosan Blog's home page was designed and created by Bailey Franzen over several weeks during the Fall of 2019. Chelsea Soriano was responsible for coming up with several creative ideas that were implemented into the site's creation.
In the Winter of 2020, the Bulosan Blog team expanded to include UC Davis undergraduates Diane Javier and Jessica Tualla, both of whom lent their expertise as writers to craft the blog's very first articles.
To learn more about the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies, click here.
Contributors
Diane Javier
I’m a 4th year English major with an emphasis in creative writing, and I have been an intern at the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies for 2 quarters. I owe the inspiration behind my writing pieces to the knowledge I’ve gleaned from being involved with the Center. Although I’m still exploring the medium, my writing currently focuses on placing Kapampangan pre-colonial beliefs in the contemporary world. In doing so, I hope to encourage the liberation of the mystical from the negative and hyper-religious taboos created during the colonial era.
It wasn’t until last year, when I took Kirby Araullo’s Asian American Studies seminar called “Demystifying the Philippines & Indigenous Writing (Kulitan & Baybayin),” that I discovered how the Filipino dialect Kapampangan did not stem from Tagalog. Being in that seminar felt surreal. We Kapampangans have our own language, own writing, own culture. It was also my first time since I immigrated from the Philippines to be in a room full of Filipino immigrants/ Filipino-American students.
Soon after the seminar, I applied to be a Bulosan intern to work under the guidance of Kirby and conducted research on pre-colonial Philippine literature. Through my involvement with the Center, I was able to attend a workshop on Writing and Publishing Children’s Literature by authors & independent publishers Christina Newhard and Justine Villanueva, learned how to create a narrative podcast with Paola Mardo, the host and creator of Long Distance Radio, and met many more inspiring Fil-Am scholars and activists.
Presently, I am a Bulosan Blog intern under the guidance of History PhD candidate Nicholas Garcia learning how to read, create, and edit nonfiction articles.
Chelsea Soriano
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Chelsea Soriano is a second year from the Bay Area, majoring in Psychology B.S. with a Quantitative Emphasis. (Don’t quote her on that because she’s indecisive and is currently having a major crisis, so stay tuned.) She has been a Bulosan Inturon (Intern) since her first year and is now a Student Ambassador for the Bulosan Center. She joined the Bulosan Center to socialize and make an impact in her Filipinx/Filipina/Filipino community. One of the most impactful Bulosan Center events she participated in was the Filipino Advocacy Day, in which she they fought for lower rent, know your rights for domestic careers, and ethnic studies. She spends most of her time at the library binge watching the Buzzfeed Unsolved Series and beauty videos on Youtube. She loves to listen to Rap and R&B, and has been trying to get into more OPM music. She’s (hopefully) a friendly and approachable person, so feel free to ask her any questions you have about the Bulosan Center or what it’s like being an Bulosan Intern!
Bailey Franzen
Pronouns: She/hers/her
Hello! I am a first year Design major, minoring in Computer Science. Some of my hobbies include drawing, painting, doing photoshoots, and getting boba with friends! I’m am an intern on the Social Media and Communications team, producing graphics for events and programs and promoting the center to both students and off campus individuals alike. I believe the work the Bulosan Center does is essential in not only highlighting the Filipino community but making sure real personal narratives are shared and represented. I hope to work closely with the Social Media/Communications team to showcase what a wonderful resource The Bulosan Center is and the amazing events and programs we have here.
Jessica Tualla
As an undergraduate senior at UC Davis, the opportunity to intern as an archivist for the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies came at a time when my career prospects after graduation seemed bleak and uncertain. An intern at the Center informed me of the opportunity to work with other Filipino Americans and learn more about our community. I joined the Center not only because of the experience I will attain but also because I wanted to close the gap between the community and me. It was a way to gain “ates” and “kuyas” I can rely on for mentorship.
During my first quarter with the Center, I was involved with organizing the Center’s library and archive. One of the Center’s goals for the library was to trace our community’s migration history. As an archivist intern, I learned a lot about the community and myself.
As a Filipino immigrant, the experiences of Filipino Americans seemed foreign to me. I learned that this disconnect stems from many social reasons. I've discovered that Filipino Americans want to celebrate and reproduce their culture. They want to preserve their culture whereas, in my experience Filipinos are more reserved about our culture due to colonialism and economic hegemonies. Both Filipinos who were part of the diaspora and Filipino Americans seek to capture what they feel disconnected from. Together we can learn from each other's experiences.
As for myself, I learned that I'm a great collaborator and prefer to work in such a setting, which I never would have known in my previous internship where I had to work alone. Above all else, working with others has been a great help in improving my communication skills,.
Site Editor
Nicholas Garcia