George grew up in Los Angeles (L.A.). For many, L.A. is a mecca for ethnic diversity. But George \u201cfelt a little out of place\u201d for having a Vietnamese father and a Filipino mother. In college, George found home, so to speak, in Asian American studies. \u201cFor the first time in my life I felt like my identity made sense and that I was part of a larger community,\u201d he explained. But after spending his junior summer studying in the Philippines, he became interested in Southeast Asia. \u201cI realized studying Southeast Asia was what I wanted to do, not just to understand Asian America, but also to understand the region on its own terms,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n
After college, George pursued a PhD in Sociology at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and carried out his fieldwork in Mindanao, the Philippines. But his Asian American identity \u201cmade research\u2026 complicated.\u201d \u201cOne scholar [in the Philippines] told me that my Asian American identity was a disadvantage and pointedly chastised me for my poor grammar in Tagalog,\u201d George recalled. Also, his cohort made matters a lot worse for him. \u201cSome graduate students spread rumors among faculty members that I was an undercover CIA agent,\u201d George added.<\/p>\n
Upon finishing his PhD, George felt that he had to \u201cgrow up\u201d and pursue a \u201cpractical\u201d career. He chose to \u201cstudy law at UW\u201d because it had a \u201cstrong Asian law program,\u201d and being at UW would allow him to \u201cremain connected to Southeast Asian studies.\u201d His PhD, however, did not help him at all with the JD program. He felt \u201cdistracted.\u201d \u201cI was more interested in my language and history classes\u2026while law firms were more interested in very detailed issues like the calculation of consequential damages or how to get a case tossed out on jurisdictional grounds,\u201d George explained.<\/p>\n
Things, however, have come full circle for George. He\u2019s currently a lecturer<\/a> in the Department of Sociology at NUS. \u201cI love what I do here,\u201d George said. In fact, he has turned down two job offers to stay at NUS. He appreciates the ability to combine his \u201cinterests in sociology and the law\u201d in his teaching while carrying out new research, such as the “sociology of emotions.\u201d George acknowledges that there\u2019s an expiration date for every job, but at the moment he\u2019s just taking it all in \u2013 one moment at a time.<\/p>\n Could you tell me what drew you to Southeast Asian Studies? Was there a particular moment that you knew you wanted to study SEA?<\/strong><\/p>\n My interest in studying Southeast Asia stems from my personal history. \u00a0My parents came from various parts of Southeast Asia: my father was a refugee of the Vietnam War, and my mother an immigrant from the Philippines. \u00a0Growing up, there weren\u2019t many Vietnamese-Filipino Americans in my neighborhood. \u00a0Even though the city I grew up in, Los Angeles, California, was incredibly diverse, I still felt a little out of place. \u00a0When I got to college, I stumbled across an Asian American studies course and loved it. \u00a0For the first time in my life I felt like my identity made sense and that I was part of a larger community. \u00a0At that point I decided that I wanted to work in the Asian American community and work either at the policy level or at a community based organization.<\/p>\n In preparation for this career, in my junior year, I decided to write an honors thesis. \u00a0Because there was funding to go abroad, I used this as an opportunity to travel to the Philippines in the summer between my junior and senior year, write a thesis on a topic in the Philippines, learn Tagalog, and come back to the US with a greater understanding of issues in the Philippines to better serve the Filipino American community. \u00a0And since I was entering my final year of college, I decided to take advantage of being in Asia by studying abroad in Vietnam that fall. \u00a0These trips changed my life. \u00a0It was over those seven months in Southeast Asia that I realized studying Southeast Asia was what I wanted to do, not just to understand Asian America, but also to understand the region on its own terms.<\/p>\n What was it like having a PhD then pursuing a JD at UW? What drew you to the JD program at UW? And did having a PhD help with the JD?<\/strong><\/p>\n When I signed up for the PhD, it was kind of by chance. \u00a0I had just finished studying abroad in the Philippines for a year (I went back after my honors thesis) and after a short internship in Washington DC in my final year, I decided I wanted to spend time outside of the United States. \u00a0I pursued a PhD at the National University of Singapore because I wanted to learn more about the \u201cwar on terror\u201d from a Southeast Asian perspective. \u00a0By the time I was finishing up my PhD, I had met amazing people, seen the world, and explored issues that interested me for several years. \u00a0But at the same time I felt that I was being drawn into academic debates I wasn\u2019t interested in and thought it was generally time to \u201cgrow up\u201d and do something \u201cpractical.\u201d \u00a0I chose to study law at UW because it\u2019s a great law school, the law school has a strong Asian law program, and the excellent main campus resources allowed me to remain connected to Southeast Asian studies.<\/p>\n But in my experience, the PhD actually didn\u2019t help with the JD itself. \u00a0I was too distracted. \u00a0I was more interested in my language and history classes on the main campus, while law firms were more interested in very detailed issues like the calculation of consequential damages or how to get a case tossed out on jursidictional grounds. \u00a0I felt like my PhD made me stand out as too intellectual, overly-educated, and not committed to these \u201cminor\u201d debates\u2014even though I did find some of the work interesting. \u00a0After graduation, though, I chose to work for the courts in part to get back to larger policy issues that required meticulous writing and thorough research\u2014skills I practiced as a PhD student.<\/p>\n How did you feel about being a Southeast Asian American doing Southeast Asian studies?<\/strong><\/p>\n Although being Asian American is what drew me to the field, it also made doing research in the field complicated. \u00a0Filipino scholars can be very territorial, particularly when it comes to my research interest of Mindanao. \u00a0Although all researchers have to be ready for criticism, the criticisms or attacks that most affected me were those based on my ethnic heritage. \u00a0One scholar told me that my Asian American identity was a disadvantage and pointedly chastised me for my poor grammar in Tagalog. \u00a0In Singapore, some graduate students spread rumors among faculty members that I was an undercover CIA agent. \u00a0While these experiences seem ridiculous now, they were certainly discouraging at the time. \u00a0Eventually, I learned to recognize the criticisms for what they are\u2014consequences of the American footprint in the region and the trials and tribulations of being a product of the Southeast Asian diaspora.<\/p>\n What are doing now? And is it close to what you envisioned when you started graduate school?<\/strong><\/p>\n Currently, I am a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. \u00a0At NUS, I get to combine my interests in sociology and the law by teaching courses on law and society, special topics in law and justice, as well as engage my other\u00a0research areas such as the sociology of emotions. \u00a0I love teaching in Singapore because I am able to use my knowledge of Southeast Asia in every class. \u00a0Initially, I thought that this would be temporary since it\u2019s a little weird teaching where you went to school. \u00a0I was also afraid that my PhD from NUS was going to make it that I\u2019d be stuck at NUS forever. \u00a0Since I\u2019ve started teaching at NUS, however, I\u2019ve had two job offers elsewhere (one with a UK university and the other with a Singapore university) and I turned them both down because I love what I do here. \u00a0Is it what I envisioned when I started graduate school? \u00a0Funny enough \u2014 it is exactly what I envisioned. \u00a0I acknowledge that being an academic is very tough, and as with the law, many times the job has an expiration date, but for now, I cherish every moment.<\/p>\n Do you have any funny or embarrassing story about doing research or working in SEA that you don’t mind sharing?<\/strong><\/p>\n I guess there were a lot of confusing moments for me as I did field research.\u00a0 Growing up in a Vietnamese-Filipino household, it was hard for me to separate what was \u201cFilipino\u201d and what was \u201cVietnamese.\u201d\u00a0 For instance, I was shocked when my extended family in the Philippines pulled out the pancit (a Filipino noodle dish) and had no chopsticks to eat it with.\u00a0 But one thing about the Philippines that I grew to love, even as contrary as it may be to the dietary restrictions of some of the people I worked with, is lechon (pork).\u00a0 I love lechon.\u00a0 Lechon kawali (crispy pork), lechon paksiw (stewed pork), all of it.\u00a0 I still remember one particular party in the village I worked in.\u00a0 As a foreigner, they invited me as a special guest to the head table to take a bite of the recently roasted lechon.\u00a0 As I took a bite of the sumptuous pork, every sensory gland was on overload and I was transported to another universe.\u00a0 I swear could feel the pork down in my toes.\u00a0 After my transcendental five seconds, I realized I did feel the pork down in my toes.\u00a0 Apparently, I was standing too close to the table and all the fat from the roasted pork was running down my pants.\u00a0 I had a huge oily wet spot right around the crotch area that was difficult to remove from the single pair of jeans that I wore for the several months I did fieldwork.\u00a0 Luckily, people weren\u2019t very formal in my community so my clothes didn\u2019t matter when I was asked the next week to be a judge at the region-wide beauty pageant (which I did not find out was for transsexual participants until part of the way through the event) or when I was asked to bestow a goat upon the winner of the local cooking contest a few weeks later.\u00a0 Needless to say, my experience in the field was filled with numerous lighthearted moments that stay with me till this day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" George grew up in Los Angeles (L.A.). For many, L.A. is a mecca for ethnic diversity. But George \u201cfelt a little out of place\u201d for having a Vietnamese father and a Filipino mother. In college, George found home, so to speak, in Asian American studies. \u201cFor the first time in my life I felt like<\/p>\n<\/a>Interview<\/b><\/h2>\n