Dr. Kristin Oberiano (Wesleyan University) will give a talk exploring the intertwined histories of CHamorus and Filipinos in Guåhan throughout the twentieth century, examining their resistance to U.S. colonialism and militarism and the limitations of liberalism in anticolonial struggles. An afternoon Q&A session will follow where Dr. Oberiano shares insights into their research, writing process, and the development of their book, Territorial Discontent.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
11:00 AM (Pacific Time)
Haines Hall, Rm A18
Note: This morning book talk will take place at 11:00am in Haines Hall, Rm A18, followed by an afternoon Q&A session at 3:30pm in Rolfe Hall, Rm 2125.
This one-hundred-year history of the island of Guåhan, also known as Guam, charts how Indigenous CHamorus and Filipino migrants navigated and negotiated the expansion of US imperialism and militarism in the Pacific. Throughout the twentieth century, CHamorus and Filipinos living in Guåhan expressed their discontent with the inequities created by the US empire. Instead of partaking in outright anticolonial movements, they advocated for liberal solutions such as individual rights, land ownership, economic opportunities, and US citizenship. In Territorial Discontent, Kristin Oberiano unravels this entangled history and exposes the limitations of liberalism in anticolonial resistance.
Tracing the long history of CHamoru-Filipino relations, from the exile of Filipino revolutionaries to Guåhan to the burgeoning CHamoru self-determination movement, Territorial Discontent grapples with the varied motives that propelled CHamorus and Filipinos to rely on the limited liberal promise of freedom. Oberiano reveals that implementing these solutions for one group too often required the continued colonization of the other, entrenching US colonialism in Guåhan and enflaming tensions between CHamorus and Filipinos. Examining these antagonisms, Oberiano argues that building relationships with the CHamoru virtue of inafa’maolek—“to make good”—can nurture CHamoru-Filipino solidarities and illuminate alternative possibilities for Guåhan’s ongoing decolonization movement.
The book can be purchased here: https://uncpress.org/9781469693910/territorial-discontent/
Kristin Oberiano is assistant professor of history at Wesleyan University. Oberiano’s research and courses examine histories of race, indigeneity, and the environment in the context of US imperialism in the Pacific, with an emphasis on Guåhan and the Northern Mariana Islands. Their book
Territorial Discontent: CHamorus, Filipinos, and the Making of the United States Empire in Guåhan is forthcoming with the University of North Carolina Press and University of Guam Press in Fall 2026.
This book talk is presented by the UCLA Department of Asian American Studies and co-sponsored by the UCLA Asia Pacific Center and UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
Download file: KristinOberiano_BookTalk_flyer-3u-ean.pdf
Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Asian American Studies Department