10/14/2026
Meet the Asian American Movement at UIC Archiving Team who is hard at work in helping archive the 31-year student-led movement (1991-2022) that helped pave the way for establishing the youngest of the interdisciplinary ethnic studies programs at UIC - Global Asian Studies - GLAS and the Major. We are proud of this fierce team of students!
If you would like to join the team, or you are a UIC alumni and have materials to contribute, or if you would like to find ways to support this project, please contact Prof. Anna Guevarra - [email protected]
Francis Balquin is a third-year PhD student in the Department of History. His areas of expertise include 20th century US history, Asian American history, and comparative empires. He hopes to write his dissertation focusing on Filipinos in the Chicagoland area. Working on the Asian American Movement, for him, is an opportunity to acknowledge the many people who brought GLAS into reality and to ensure that their stories are preserved and accessible.
Stefanie (Stef) Demayo is a fourth year undergraduate student majoring in psychology. Besides academic passions in psychology and neuroscience, she loves to craft handmade jewelry. She’s excited to be a part of the team and contribute to the Asian American Movement archival project as a means of learning more about a movement that resonates with her.
Avni Gupta (she/her) is a third year UIC undergrad student majoring in Global Asian Studies and minoring in Moving Image Arts and Museum and Exhibition Studies. Harboring a love for cinema and filmmaking as well as history and art, she was drawn to the Asian American Movement archives project for the opportunity to discover new stories.
Joon Sol (they/them) is an undergraduate student majoring in Global Asian Studies and minoring in Black Studies. They chose this path to hopefully become a professor in ethnic studies one day, but until then are very happy with their life as a barista. As a current Global Asian Studies Student Advisory board member as well as an Asian American Student Academic Program ( AASAP) General Office aide, Joon exists in spaces that were only ever possible through the advocacy of UIC’s
