Kaya Conversations: Third Andresen

Want to broaden your critical consciousness through hip hop? Read our latest and final installment for this Kaya Conversation series: a chat with Third Andresen, educator and artist.

In 2013, Third Andresen graduated with a PhD in Education from the University of Washington. Now as a UW faculty, he teaches a variety of topics that include Filipino American History, Hip Hop culture, and the portrayal of minority groups in the motion film industry. He is also the program director of “Made in the U.S.A.: American Occupation, Identity Construction, and Social Action”, a UW CHID Study Abroad Course held at the University of the Philippines.

By Kristen Navaluna

Tonight is Kaya Co. Seattle’s Kalinawan, Arts + Open Mic! It’s been great to get the diasporic backstory behind our fellow artists and we cannot wait to experience their art at our event. But before that, we want to present our last Kaya Conversations interview with Third Andresen. With a PhD in Education and a love for Hip Hop, Andresen is known for mixing art with academics to teach and empower his students. Read our interview with Andresen as he gives us a lesson in Philippine history and a Fil-Am narrative of himself.

What is your diaspora story?

My family migrated to the mainland U.S. in the 1930s through the Pensionado Act of 1903, which refers to the law that allowed mostly upper class Filipino students to study in the United States. This act provided funds for such students like my grandfather to acquire his college degree at UW and go back to the Philippines and run the country. He didn’t finish school, so he did migrant work in California and canned salmon in Alaska. With that, our family grew and we now have families in the Midwest, East Coast, Hawaii, California, and Canada.

How did you get started in your art?

I got started with spoken word when I was introduced to Hip Hop music in the 80s. We would freestyle in the lunchroom and after school. My friends and I would use my folks’ old school Karaoke machine to record our songs. And then teaching became my art. I’ve been teaching for over 19 years; I use performing arts and Hip Hop to teach and scaffold key concepts theories, and theoretical frameworks as it relates to the development of students’ critical consciousness.

A film project created by the students of Andresen’s “Hip Hop in the 206” Course offered through the UW Comparative History of Ideas (CHID) Department.

How is being a part of the diaspora influenced your artwork?

Being part of the diaspora dictates how I view myself both as a person and in relation to other people, ideas, and nature. Social justice, Filipino American History, hip hop, and community organizing influence my life every day. Our collective struggle and history manifest in my artwork through the topics I write, which are stories of struggle, history, community engagement and empowerment.

My students’ cultural funds of knowledge and the connection I see with people of color’s history are interwoven in my art. It is through my art that I experience the diaspora as I connect my life with that of those around me (including my family). It enriches my understanding and that of others about the relationship between community engagement, contemporary issues, activism, and identity.

Many people believe art is a form of community work or activism, do you feel that way about your own work?

Yes, I do. Art, identity, activism, and community work intersect. It’s hard to separate identity, art, activism, and community work and compartmentalize it. It’s all connected.

What is the mission of your organization?

My organization, Third World Productions and CREATE Cooperative’s (Culturally Responsive Education, Activities, Teaching and Engagement) mission is to bridge academic achievement gap, cultivate skill set, develop leadership, and increase community engagement by offering culturally responsive after school programs and curricula.

The theme of our showcase is “Kalinawan”, a Filipino word that means clarity, peace, sense of vision. It can also symbolize a newfound perspective that arises from a deeper sense of self through exploration of his or her own history or culture. What creates a sense of “Kalinawan” for you?

Kalinawan for me is that knowledge is power and teaching is empowerment. The more you know, the less you really know.

Read about the courses taught by Third Andresen in The Daily: “The Brew is born in CHID 250” and “Here’s to wishing all classes are like this”

Kalinawan, Arts + Open Mic will be hosted by Kaya Co. Seattle on November 20th at Hillman City Collaboratory.

For more details on this event, visit our event page.

Kristen Navaluna, a graduate of the University of Washington , is the Marketing Communications Manager of Kaya Co. Seattle. She loves watching Project Runway, listening to alternative music, and exploring nature landscapes and creative spaces in her travels.