Webinar Lecture by Dr. Mark Villegas
The Asian American Studies Program (AAS) proudly presents the second speaker in our Spring 2026 Lecture Series, Dr. Mark Villegas, Associate Professor of American Studies at Franklin & Marshall College.
Lecture Abstract: My presentation focuses on my book, Manifest Technique: Hip Hop, Empire, and Visionary Filipino American Culture, the first scholarly book to examine the significance of hip hop culture among recent generations of Filipino Americans. When hip hop became popularized outside of New York City and across the US in the early 1980s, Filipino Americans were culturally equipped to excel in various forms of the emerging genre. Hip hop quickly became the most popular cultural expression among young Filipino Americans; the genre provided an interracial space to deconstruct US exceptionalism, revealed buried history, and helped envision a better future.
My presentation concludes with a look at the peacock chair in hip hop’s visual iconography. The peacock chair, a tropical piece of furniture originating in US colonial Philippines, alludes to themes in my next project: while US Black expressive culture has shaped US Filipinoness, Blackness has found inspiration in Asia, as seen with the peacock chair and in African Americans’ contemporary affinity for Japanese anime and other Asian media products. Overall, I argue that popular culture, whether hip hop or anime, serves as a key catalyst for cultivating intimate multiracial connectivity, which I believe is a prerequisite for more overt and sustainable multiracial political activities.
About the Lecturer: Mark Villegas is an associate professor and chair of American Studies at Franklin & Marshall College. His book, Manifest Technique: Hip Hop, Empire, and Visionary Filipino American Culture (University of Illinois Press, 2021), examines Filipino Americans’ decades-long commitment to crafting, worldmaking, and collaborating in hip hop culture. His new project, tentatively titled Geek Hop: Study, Science, and Orientalism in Hip Hop Culture, observes hip hop’s “geeky” elements reflected in comic book culture, martial arts, anime, and science fiction.
Questions? Please email [email protected].