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Gemirald Daus
AAST363 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2025 |
This has been one of the BEST classes I have ever taken at UMD and I am so glad to have taken Filipino American Studies in Fall 2025. I have had my sights set on this class since I was a senior in high school looking at the UMD course catalog, but never had the space in my Fall semester until my Junior year, and it was so worth it. The previous two lower reviews on Prof. Gem do not do him justice, and since there are very limited reviews on AAST363 itself, I felt compelled to write this review to give a rating that Gem truly deserves. I hope whoever does read this is not scared off by the 1 and 2 star reviews at the bottom, as they are also for a separate class. The review below me is somewhat correct --- do not expect to come into this class doing minimal work and staying disengaged hoping for an easy A. However, if you do stay engaged in lecture and with the content we read and discuss during and outside of class (which is not even that hard to digest I might add), simply aiming for an A is NOT that hard if you actually try. As a Filipino American myself, I came into this class genuinely curious about my identity, history, and the reason why the Philippines and Filipino diaspora shaped up to be the way it did. I know for myself and others in the class, we all came in with this similar mindset along with certain struggles such as not knowing Tagalog or feeling disconnected from our family back home. I'd say if you also fall under this category, I implore you to try to have this course in your schedule at some point during your time here at UMD. Coming out of our final class, I have never felt more empowered, secure, and proud to be Filipino American, and I can never than Professor Gem enough. Even if you are not Filipino, not American, or not Filipino American, I recommend you take this class. There are certain lessons from this class that will honestly stick with me for the rest of my life. In terms of the actual content and work, it's pretty standard work for a history class. You won't even be writing any multi-page papers. The lecture itself is indeed 2.5 hours, but we do have scheduled breaks in the middle. Gem does ask questions throughout lecture for engagement and I highly recommend participating as it also breaks the ice for the rest of the class! Our homework usually is centered around Perusall where we annotate and discuss certain readings (again, very digestable), and what I do appreciate is that Gem actually engages with our comments and even features notable ones in lecture! There is a TON of time to do these assignments by the way, and they do not take that long to complete. Outside of that we do have some group work that we showcase during lecture. Our biggest assignment is a research project that we get to choose in the beginning of November and is due at the end of the semester. I actually think this class and its work is not much of a headache or burden at all, especially if you are interested in actually learning about it. I must also agree that Prof. Gem is a very genuine and humble person, as the previous review said. He is truly passionate about what he teaches and I can see that he wants us to succeed, especially if we reciprocate that passion for the course as well. He really loves his students!!! He flawlessly transitions between serious and funny topics while staying relevant to our discussion. At the end of our last class, he even let us call him Tito Gem, lol. This man truly is a GEM here at UMD, and I am lucky to have experienced his course! Especially while we're in the midst of the federal dismantling of the Education Department and the threat of slashing funding for the presence of DEI, everything is under threat, including ethnic studies. While this class is a history course, there are soooo many connections to modern day society as the topics we learn are actually very relevant. It is so so important to show Asian American Studies and UMD that this class deserves to stay, and I really hope my review can give you the push to add this class onto your schedule. I really hope this class can positively reframe your perspective on your Filipino American identity as it had for me too! RT that you get what you put into this class, and for me, the work also stopped feeling like work as I started to learn more about myself as well. |
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Gemirald Daus
AAST363 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/04/2025 |
I absolutely love this class. I see people complaining about the constant readings and discussions, but it's literally a history class--what did you expect? After all you get what you put into the class; If you registered for this class to actually learn about FIlipino American history, the work stops feeling like work. But, if you were just hoping for an easy A, the 2.5 hour class and weekly readings will feel gruelling. Also Prof Gem is so genuine and humble. I love how he celebrates Filipino American culture, and respects the unique identities of all his students (Filipino or not). He's my honorary ninong. W Professor. |
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Gemirald Daus
AAST498Q Anonymous 04/18/2023 |
The way this class is structured is pretty even, but the workload for an upper-level AAST elective is ridiculous. Professor Gem assigns weekly assignments ranging from reading 2-3 short articles on Perusall to something outlandish such as reading 20-30 pages of an article, only for both to be graded similarly. As a result, it's a class that's more of a headache and chore rather than something enjoyable. As the previous review states, it's more of a headache, and he grades exceptionally harshly. For the essays, he treats them as if they were a Ph.D. dissertation and dings point for GRAMMAR. This isn't an English course; it's an Asian American studies course. He expects everything to be MLA cited; if he sees any discrepancy in the information provided, he will drop it by a grade. This course is more brutal and annoying rather than fun and exciting. |
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Gemirald Daus
AAST498Q Anonymous 02/25/2023 |
This class meets for 2.5 hours a week, but this class is a lot of work. We have weekly readings (which are not short), a case study paper as the final (10-15 pages), at least two 750 word papers, and a demographic profile presentation/paper that is not easy (and you have to do it with a partner). Our last reading required a two-page double-spaced reflection paper. I would really not suggest taking this class, it's giving me a headache more than my other classes. I have no idea how harsh his grading is yet, but I'm not too hopeful. Gem's actual teaching is okay, this class is participation heavy so if no one talks, we're all just sitting in silence. It could be an interesting class since some of the topics we have learned about are interesting, but due to the workload, I view this class as a burden. |