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Over the Summer in 2026, I attended the Center for Ethnographic Research (CER) Summer Workshop under the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues (ISSI) at the University of California, Berkeley. The workshop was designed as a six-week methodology seminar focused on qualitative research methods, where participants learned by conducting simple fieldwork, discussing readings, further developing individual research projects, and engaging with our peer’s research. I attended the workshop to learn more about what graduate school and research programs look like in practice as I consider pursuing one myself.

One of the workshop’s key aims was to train participants in ethnographic and qualitative research methods. Ethnographic research is a qualitative method that involves studying people’s experiences, practices, and communities through direct observation and interaction. These methods would enrich my current research, which asks: How do Filipino Americans and their families experience, understand, and respond to incarceration within institutions shaped by colonial histories, religion, labor, and state power?

"How do Filipino Americans and their families experience, understand, and respond to incarceration within institutions shaped by colonial histories, religion, labor, and state power?"

I joined a cohort of diverse and talented peers under Professor Gonzalez for two days a week from May 25 to July 2. As we met, each of us shared our personal in-progress research topics and questions, and we all worked to build them into something more substantial – such as learning how to better pose our questions, how to better explain them to those outside of our fields, and how to acknowledge our unique “politics” or positionality. 

During the workshop, we would go outside to conduct our own participant observations or interview others from our cohort to broaden our capabilities in analyzing data and transcription. 

I wanted to join this program because Dr. Nguyen in the Asian American Studies department at SJSU encouraged me. My independent study and research under his guidance opened my eyes to the different academic and professional paths I could take – even ones that strayed from the stable “techy” jobs my family insisted were the most reliable option. I found it immensely refreshing to explore how I could view data and data analysis in relation to the people and things I care about in my community. Throughout this workshop, I was able to learn how graduate programs and proposals are taken in by “the other side” and what it looks like to do that type of academic work – whether it is interviews, ethics, or IRB approval. 

As part of the workshop, I also had the opportunity to meet graduate students and post-graduate faculty at Cal that shared their experiences in interacting with their own communities as researchers. It was interesting to learn about their varied approaches that helped them better portray their ethnographic research (e.g., photography as a way to present observations visually rather than just through field notes). 

The CER workshop helped me not only better understand what graduate school realistically looks like, but also what it would mean for me to pursue it in the future.

"The CER workshop helped me not only better understand what graduate school realistically looks like, but also what it would mean for me to pursue it in the future."

It was a great opportunity to meet and work amongst students and faculty from various universities across the country, to listen to what they intended to research, and to receive feedback and questions on my own research from those who were not as familiar with my specific Filipino and Filipino American experiences (as these were integral to my topic and the specific language I used throughout my paper and research).

This project was supported by the SJSU AAS Program and the CSU ASAP grant. 

Author Bio: Stephani Marie Soriano-Del Rosario, known as Seven Soriano, is a senior Filipino American transfer student at San José State University pursuing a B.S. in Data Science with a minor in Asian American Studies. Their academic interests include Filipino American communities, particularly those systematically impacted by incarceration, colonial histories, and other forms of structural inequality.