One of the many book reading/signing events that are part of Dr. Kevin Nadal's book tour for his book Filipino American Psychology: A Handbook of Theory, Research, and Clinical Practice was held in Bonita, California. It was a very casual, close-knit event sponsored by Pnoy Apparel and held in the Sapphire Lounge; a good mixture of laughter and serious discussion.
Such a setting was very fitting, for Dr. Kevin Nadal is a very approachable, friendly, and hilarious man-- a "fierce individual," as friend and Ugnayan member Marie Obana described him when opening the event. The first hour and a half of the event was spent socializing with the many people in attendance. Dr. Nadal could be seen hopping from group to group, personally introducing himself and getting to know others.
Once everyone was settled in, Dr. Nadal started off the event with a comedy sketch, complete with family impersonations and jokes about "pilipino time," being asked, "What are you?", and Manny Pacquaio. However, he continued to make the crowd roar with laugher even while describing the chapters of his new book.
Upon explaining his motivations for writing the book, Dr. Nadal states, "At what other time do we have to be able to talk about these issues?... When do you ever have a chance to hear about the problems that face our community?... I think it's important to have these conversations with each other."
Indeed, Dr. Nadal's book goes over a range of issues. Pilipina/o American history, cultural values, identity & identity crises, the model minority myth, gender and sexual orientation within the Pilipina/o American community, and mental health are just some of the topics he discusses.
Another reason Dr. Nadal gives for writing this book: "I think that we need to type of resource where people can go to and to be able to have a continental look at what it means to be Pilipino American and some of the experiences that Pilipino Americans face... I want to be able to have something that people can go to... that can help you [graduate students] with your thesis... I hope that this is something that can advocate for some change as well."
Dr. Nadal ended the event by reading the Preface of his new book, answering people's questions, and signing people's books. You can also pick up a copy of the book here. Having picked up a copy myself, this book is a very comprehensive read but is still written in the academic language that will make this useful for other Pilipina/o American Studies scholars out there.
For more information on Dr. Kevin Nadal and his new book, please visit his website. For those who want to meet Dr. Nadal, his book tour is not over! He is making various apperances across California, Canada, New York, Vermont, Washington, Florida, Illinois, Virginia, and Massachusetts. There may also be more locations to come. More details can be found here.
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Comments
Kevin is certainly a very approachable, friendly, and hilarious man, but at the same time, Dr. Nadal is extremely knowledgeable about the subject matter on Filipino-American Psychology. With this combination, he is able to effortlessly attract and hold his audience’s attention in order to talk about the issues that he writes about in his book, and ensure that we hear about the problems that face our community.