What is Atelier Bighari?

Hello!
My name is Bea, and I am a recent graduate from my Master's program in Higher Education Administration. My main academic interests are in social psychology, identity formation, sense of belonging, mental health, and the immigrant experience! I love the power of storytelling, and enjoy a good research-based analysis..... which means there's probably going to be a lot of that here in this shop.

The topics I am curating in this shop are built on themes of identity, and are propelled by a love of story-telling. Here I will be posting small stories that promote cultural awareness, social justice advocacy, historical analysis, myths, and fandoms all tied by one concept -- the concept of "home".
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All of the things you will see here will focus on what home means to me. As an immigrant, that home has always been the Philippines and my Filipino culture.

Growing up, I felt a constant state of identity limbo--a pervasive feeling of not being "American" or "Filipino" enough for either place. My struggle with this foreignness led to me dedicating my undergraduate and graduate studies exploring the immigrant experience and mental health.

​Though I still struggle with the intersections of my own identity, I found power in being able to create safe spaces for others in the form of clubs and student organizations. Creating spaces for people to feel at home, I found, had the remarkable ability to save them during their darkest hours. It is from this desire to continue making spaces for hidden narratives that Atelier Bighari was born 💛