Beads, Batok, and Beauty: Philippine Traditions of Adornment

Date and Time: April 4, 2023 |  3:00-5:30 HST

Register in advance via Zoom webinar [new window]

This lecture explores Filipino aesthetics of beauty from the traditional to the contemporary. We will look at clothing and adornment in multiple indigenous communities including Kalinga, Ifugao, Bukidnon, Talaandig, T’Boli, and Maguindanao. We will explore how colonial systems of white supremacy and heteropatriarchy influence the Filipina/o sense of beauty and constructions of gender.

Dr. Maharaj “Raju” Desai is the Outreach Coordinator with Asian American & Pacific Islander (AA&PI) Student Services at San Francisco State University and lecturer faculty at both Skyline College (Filipino Language) and City College of San Francisco (Philippine Studies). He is a multilingual scholar whose experiences include community-based organizing with youth and students, critical language pedagogy and curriculum development, and community wellness. He received his B.A. and M.A. in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University. He received his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He recently developed and taught a new course, PHST 50: Filipinx LGBTQ Identities and Experiences for the Philippine Studies Department at City College.

For inquiries, contact Dr. Pia Arboleda at pca62@hawaii.edu.