Help bridge Doris’ tuition gap

I am Doris Wilson and I am raising this fund to bridge the gap for my final year tuition fee for the research master’s program in Media, Art, and Performance Studies at the Utrecht University in the Netherlands. This is a two-year master’s program which I started last September 2016. The tuition fee for my first year has been paid for with help from relatives, friends, and a partial scholarship from the Philippine Commission on Higher Education.

Before embarking on this research master’s program, I taught Speech Communication and Performance courses at the University of the Philippines Baguio in Baguio City, Philippines. I served as the head of the University’s theater performing group, Dulaang UP Baguio, from June 2013 to July 2016. I also facilitated Children’s Theater workshops during summer. Throughout this period, I spearheaded training workshops for students eager to gain basic skills in theater production, acting, and playwriting. We mounted plays that tackled contemporary issues affecting students and the indigenous people of the Cordillera region of the Philippines. With help from the local government and several indigenous communities we were able to tour and stage the play ‘Sayaw ng Panahon (Dance of the Times)’ for free in different areas in Benguet and Mountain Province. During these toured performances, I spearheaded a research on the audience reception. The results of the research were presented in international conferences in Quezon City, Philippines in September 2014 and in Chicago, Illinois in June 2016.

My research interest is on the performative aspect of the indigenous culture of the Cordillera people. For my bachelor's thesis, I did a research on the daw-es, an indigenous cleansing ritual. Through a comparative analysis of the traditional and ‘hybrid’ performance of the ritual, I showed the transformations and the challenges brought about by socio-economic changes such as migration, religion, and others. This thesis was among the finalists for the College of Arts and Communication’s Best Thesis Award in 2013.

I plan to pursue a master’s thesis that will tackle migration and its relation to memory and aesthetics with a focus on migrant Filipinos who are Cordillerans, asylum seekers, and/or artists in The Netherlands.

As an international student, I have to pay the full tuition fee of €15, 167 before May 31, 2017. I hope you can help me in achieving my goal. Even a small donation can make a big difference. Please pass this campaign to others who could help as well. I shall pay forward this debt of gratitude through teaching, researching, and performing civic work in the Philippines. Thank you.

(photos courtesy of GL Viray/UPB Summer Arts Festival, personal collection)