Strengthening Our Pasifik Alliances Meeting, Autumn 2017
The Strengthening our Pasifik Alliances Meeting (SPAM) is PISCs annual fall social event for PISC clubs to interact with one another to cultivate a closer community here on campus. This is an opportunity for students to meet each other across clubs, meet new people, network, and to strengthen their Pacific Islander bonds!
Career Dev: Interview Like A Dawg With UW Alum Chris Santos!, Autumn 2017
Chris Santos is a UW alumnus, who graduated in 2005, and is a former student leader with the Micronesian Islands Club (MIC), Pacific Islander Partnerships in Education (PIPE), and Pacific Islander Opportunity Network for Education Equality & Representation (PIONEER). Since graduating with his law degree at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, he’s developed many years of experience in law, ranging from corporate litigation to native sovereignty and civil legal processes. Since 2014, Chris moved back to the mainland, and as a former recruiter at Google, and most-recently at Houzz, he continues to bring his skills to the worlds of tech and engineering.
Chris and Houzz will be recruiting at the annual UW Science & Engineering Career Fair on Wednesday, October 25th. He also aims to present a specialized workshop for the UW’s Pacific Islander student community during his time here in Seattle. Ideally this workshop would help students to:
· Access information about careers in tech, engineering, and e-commerce.
· Develop skills in resume-writing and interviewing.
· Learn how community work with Pacific Islander student organizations helps students to prepare for graduation and beyond.
· Learn more about Houzz, and the exciting career opportunities with this rapidly-growing company.
Pasifik Voices, Autumn 2017
PISC’s biggest event of the quarter celebrating the unique performances of the individuals who make up the Pacific Islander community on campus!
Pasifik Voices, hosted by the ASUW Pacific Islander Student Commission, was founded by Kiana Fuega and Christina Pelesasa in 2009 to give space for renowned Pasifik poet Sia Figel to share her works with students in Winter of 2009.
Since then, it has become an event centered around embodying the vast diversity of Pasifik Islander representation on and off the University of Washington campus.
It is a night of cultural expression as we showcase our talent through music, dance, art, spoken word, and more!
The theme for this quarter’s Pasifik Voices is “Early 2000’s”!
Holiday Strengthening Our Pasifik Alliances Meeting, Autumn 2017
PISC’s Holiday SPAM is the annual holiday social event for the Pacific Islander RSOs, Pacific Islander Students, and friends and supporters of the ASUW Pacific Islander Student Commission to come kick it and relax with some games, de-stressers, and good vibes with fellow Pacific Islander community members!
There will be a free dinner, games, activity booths from each RSO, and the annual BROWN ELEPHANT and UGLY SWEATER CONTEST!
Queer API Narratives, Winter Quarter 2018
Queer API Narratives is a discussion group for people who identify as queer and Asian/Pacific Islander. Come to discuss our lived experiences within the intersection of such identities, to find solidarity among each other, and to heal.
As our second general meeting of the year, we’ll be exploring the theme of a “double life” – of being out in different spaces, and not in others. Additionally, we’ll be discussing how this experience differs between Asian/Pacific Islander Americans vs Asian/Pacific Islanders from their home countries.
This event is done in collaboration with the ASUW Asian Student Commission, the Pacific Islander Student Commission, and the Queer Student Commission.
Pasifik Voices, Winter 2018
Pasifik Voices, hosted by the ASUW Pacific Islander Student Commission, was founded in 2009 by Kiana Fuega and Christina Pelesasa to give space for renowned Pasifik poet Sia Figel to share her works with students in the winter of 2009.
Since then, it has become an event centered around embodying and showcasing the vast diversity of Pasifik Islander representation on and off the University of Washington campus.
As one of PISC’s biggest events of the quarter, Pasifik Voices aims to celebrate the unique talents and performances of the individuals who make up the Pacific Islander community on campus in a night of cultural expression as we showcase our talent through music, dance, art, spoken-word, and more! We will have ASL interpretation available.
SAAFF 2018 – Island Soldier Screening
Island Soldier Movie follows members of the Nena family from one of the most remote islands in the world to the training grounds of Texas and the battlefields in Afghanistan. The death of Sapuro “Sapp” Nena in Afghanistan makes waves through his tiny home island of Kosrae – where nearly everyone is connected to the U.S. military directly or through family members. In an attempt to heal from his own deep wounds, Sapuro’s best friend in the Army, Mario Robles, heads to Kosrae with his family to meet Sapp’s parents for the first time and pay his respects on Veteran’s Day. It is an emotional gathering of two families, from opposite sides of the world, brought together by loss, love and honor.
This program is co-presented by ASUW Pacific Islander Student Commission and AAJA Seattle.
UW Oceania and Pacific Islander Studies Minor Launch Party
Join the Department of American Indian Studies and members of the UW’s Pacific Islander family at the Oceania & Pacific Islander Studies minor Launch Party!
The OPI Studies minor has been a work in progress for several years, and we are excited to announce that it is now up and available to students! This event is to officially launch and celebrate the creation of OPI Studies at the UW. Join us to hear about what the minor is all about from the faculty, students, and community members who played a part in helping, supporting, and advocating for this minor. There will be dinner provided, an opportunity to learn about and sign up for the minor, community, and more!
Day of Remembrance: Healing and Solidarity with the Marshallese Community
March 1 is the anniversary of the largest U.S. nuclear weapon detonation that took place on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1954. We, at UW, have a responsibility to learn about the history and legacy of the testing program, and to stand in friendship and solidarity with our Marshallese neighbors and friends in the Seattle area on this day of mourning. The Marshallese people are defined by more than nuclear weapons testing, however.
This event to honor the resilience and strength of Marshallese community leaders in WA State for their advocacy in Olympia seeking healthcare for Citizens of the Freely Associated States (Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau). Please join us at the Burke Museum to learn, provide support, and honor local leaders.
This is a community event with collaborators from the Pacific Islander community, both within the UW and among the extended local community. Special thanks to the Burke Museum, Micronesian Islands Club, and Research Family for their work around honoring this day through this event.
Poems from a Marshallese Daughter: Poetry of the Marshall Islands, Climate Change, and Nuclear Testing
In a joint event hosted by the Pacific Islander community at the University of Washington, join us in welcoming Marshallese poet, spoken word artist, and activist, Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner.
In an effort to learn and understand the impacts of climate change and nuclear testing, Kathy will do a poetry reading, talk, and engage with the audience in dialogue around nuclear testing and climate change.
Bite of Asia and Taste of Pasifika, 2018
The ASUW Asian Student Commission, Pacific Islander Student Commission, and Parent & Family Weekend present the annual Bite of Asia & Taste of Pasifika!
Since 1988, the goal of Bite of Asia has been to build community among the Asian/Asian-American and the Pacific Islander populations at the UW, to provide students with a sense of belonging and opportunities to connect with one another through food – whether it be trying new cuisines or taking a bite of something that reminds them of home.
Mele Murals Screening
Mele Murals is a documentary on the transformative power of modern graffiti art and ancient Hawaiian culture for a new generation of Native Hawaiians. At the center of the story are two renowned street artists – Estria Miyashiro (aka Estria) and John Hina (aka Prime) – a group of Native Hawaiian youth, and the rural community of Waimea. Set against the resurgence of Hawaiian language and culture of the past twenty years, Estria and Prime tell how their street art has taken them on personal journeys to discover their history, identity and responsibilities as Hawaiian people. Through the stories of these two graffiti artists and their joint quest to uphold Hawaiian culture through mural-making, Mele Murals shows how public art rooted in underground graffiti unexpectedly but powerfully fuses with Native Hawaiian traditions and contemporary life to impact the students, the town of Waimea, and most of all the artists.
SPAM and SNAC at the Planetarium
Hosted by the American Indian Student Commission and the Pacific Islander Student Commission, for our spring community social, an event to connect the indigenous student body at the University of Washington.
Indigenous Voices: Conversations on Environment & Climate Change
The University of Washington’s ASUW Pacific Islander Student Commission and American Indian Student Commission present Indigenous Voices: Conversations on the Environment & Climate Change.
Indigenous Voices brings together perspectives on global environmental change and its impacts for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Pacific. Hear from a diverse panel of community members who will present and share their work, centering wide-ranging Indigenous experiences in approaches to global environmental change. This event aims to provoke conversations that not only highlight the urgency of climate action but also draws attention to the cultural resilience of Indigenous peoples.
Pacific Islander Festival of the Arts
The Pacific Islander Festival of the Arts is a night of artistic celebration for the rich cultures that exist within the Pacific Islander community at the UW and across Washington. The goal of the event is to highlight the works of Pacific Islander community artists of all forms and to create a space for Pacific Islanders to come together and share their work with their fellow Islanders and the extended community. The night will include cultural performances from Pacific Islander legacy groups at the UW, local Pacific Islander art vendors, alumni who have ventured into culturally influenced artistic pursuits, and much more!
14th Annual Pasifik Graduation
A graduation celebration hosted by the ASUW Pacific Islander Student Commission and the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity. This event is an opportunity for us to celebrate graduates of the UW Pacific Islander community in a smaller, more intimate, island-style setting!