Known for her career in the organization Science Puerto Rico (CienciaPR), the doctor Mónica Feliú Mójer She is now the protagonist of the documentary “Coming Home”a short film – directed and produced by the Puerto Rican – that demonstrates how her roots, in a rural working-class community in Vega Baja, inspired her curiosity and love for science.
The documentary – which premieres next Thursday, May 9 – is part of “Background to Breakthrough”, a collection of short films from the non-profit organization Science Communication Labwhich highlights how the identities, backgrounds, and perspectives of three female scientists have driven their discoveries and innovations.
“This documentary is an exploration of who we are, where we grow and how the experiences we have forge or shape who we are. In my case, it is precisely this upbringing, in a rural working-class community, that instilled in me that curiosity about science”said Feliú-Mójer, who serves as director of Public Participation in Science for CienciaPR.
In interview with The new dayexplained, however, that the inspiration for “Coming Home” comes from collaborating with community leaders, as part of her work at CienciaPR, because it allowed her to reflect on what were the conditions, factors and people that inspired her to be scientific.
“This community work, which I have been doing for the last four years, has been like coming home. Not only literally returning to Puerto Rico and working more directly with the communities, but also return to my roots – in a rural working class community – where I was surrounded by this type of community leaders who, through their management, what they do is, essentially, put science into practice and put it at the service of their communities”said the doctor, who resides in California.
He also indicated that solidarity and collective care – which characterized his community – instilled in him values of equity, solidarity and justice, which now guide and drive his work in communicating and bringing science closer to people.
“Science is part of what Puerto Rico is. That creativity that Puerto Ricans show to solve problems, that inventiveness of, sometimes, doing wonderful things with few resources. That, to me, is a part of who we are.”he claimed.
However, she shared that, at first, she did not know that she could be a scientist or pursue a career in the field due to the lack of representation of Puerto Rican scientists in, for example, schools and the media.
“I have always been very interested in telling common counternarratives of who has scientific knowledge and who does science. The documentaries or short films that I have produced to date – this would be the sixth – have focused on counteracting stereotypes of who a scientist is and expanding a little that definition of who the people who do science are.”he highlighted, in reference to the “Background to Breakthrough” collection.
A portion of the documentary was recorded, in October 2022, during the national conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNASin English), in Puerto Rico, where Feliú Mójer was the master of ceremony.
“We took advantage of that event to record the documentary, because we already had this idea of returning home, like this journey, both literal and figurative, of physically returning home,” he mentioned. In addition, they filmed other scenes in the doctor's foster home, in the Pachanga sector of the Maricao neighborhood, in Vega Alta.
“It is very significant to return to my neighborhood, to return to my house and to have the opportunity to share with the audience that place where I came from, truly from the roots”he commented.
The language of the documentary changes between Spanish and English, but the YouTube platform – where it will be available – will have subtitles in both languages. There will also be a version interpreted in sign language.
Feliú Mójer added that they are creating a series of resources, such as discussion questions and activities, to make it easier for educators to use the documentary in their classrooms.
“What I hope is that people who see the documentary can see themselves reflected in different parts of this story. I believe that my story is the story of many people in Puerto Rico, who grew up in these places, and that these places really shaped who they are today.”he stressed.
People can register for free, through https://bit.ly/cominghomepremiereto the virtual premiere, which will begin at 3:00 pm. In turn, it will be available on the Science Communication Lab's YouTube channel, as well as on its website.