Berkeley Lab’s Filipino-American Club will be hosting a lunchtime talk on the topic of Philippine Independence Day, commemorated annually in June. The talk will be held on Monday, June 15th from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. in 50A-5132, and Lab employees are invited to attend. Our guest speaker will be Professor Oscar Peñaranda who taught Philippine Studies and Philippine-American Studies at San Francisco State University in the Asian-American Studies department. Peñaranda will discuss some of the history behind Philippine Independence Day and Philippine-American Friendship Day, including significance of the dates, core values, interpretations, and relevance.
Peñaranda has been an educator for 40 years and has taught in universities and colleges for 15 years. He is one of the original voices that defined and developed “Pilipino” and Philippine American literature. He helped found the S.F. Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) as its first president. He also belongs to the Filipino American Educators Association of California (FAEAC) and advocates for the teaching and creation of Filipino Heritage Studies and Filipino language in all his educational efforts.
Peñaranda earned his M.A. in Creative Writing and B.A. in Literature at SF State University, where he also became part of the struggle to establish Ethnic Studies. He has authored several books: Full Deck, Jokers Playing, and Seasons by the Bay. Seasons by the Bay won the best fiction for 2004 for the Global Filipino Literary Award, and Full Deck won the Poetry category. In 2012, Oscar was the recipient of the most prestigious award, “Gawad ng Alagad ni Balagtas” by the Writers Guild of the Philippines for his lifetime achievements in promoting and pioneering the institutionalization of Philippine Studies, Philippine-American Studies, and Philippine Languages Studies in the U.S. He is also a Trustee of the Filipino-American National Historical Society, being a founder and first president of the S.F. chapter. He remains active in cultural, literary, and educational promotions and exchanges.
To learn more about Berkeley Lab’s Filipino-American Club, please visit our website.
