The Center conducts regular "brown-bag" lectures and public seminars on topics related to the Philippines and Filipinos. It has presented more than 500 speakers to date. The lecture series is intended to promote intellectual interest and interaction within the University community, particularly among Philippine specialists. It also serves as a forum for distinguished Philippine specialists, intellectuals, officials, and other visitors who are invited to speak. Among them have been former Senators Leticia Ramos Shahani and Arturo Tolentino, former Senate President Jovito Salonga, former University of the Philippines (UP) President Jose Abueva, Dr. Doreen Fernandez, Dr. Carolina Hernandez, Dr. Mahar K. Mangahas, the late writers Salvador P. Lopez and Bienvenido Santos, famous author N. V. M. Gonzalez, noted novelist and 1980 Ramon Magsaysay awardee for Literature, Journalism, and Communications F. Sionil Jose. The Center sponsored the first Asian-scholar-in-residence at UHM, Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, UP professor of literature and Filipino, who likewise won the Magsaysay Award. It also sponsored two Distinguished Florence Macaulay Lectures, bringing to the campus Prof. Solita Monsod of the UP School of Economics and Ms. Monalisa Yuchengco of the Yuchengco Group of Companies.

Please click on past lectures in our archives (right sidebar).

Spring 2013

The Logic of Mother Language, the Ir/Rationalities of National Language, and Cultural Democracy in Action, by Aurelio Solver Agcaoili, PhD, UH Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures, January 23, 2013, 12:00-1:30 pm, Moore Hall 319 (Tokioka Room).

The talk argues that with the reintroduction of mother tongue-based mother language education in the Philippines in 2009, and with the upsurge of pilot schools all over the Philippines offering the MTB-MLE curriculum, there is no other more poignant evidence that proves the irrationality of holding on to a hegemonic national language in a multilingual and multicultural country like the Philippines than this new educational initiative of that country. It argues as well that the national language as being foisted by 'nationalists' is a conspiracy of people who misinterpret the meaning of multiplicity, diversity, linguistic pluralism, emancipatory education, and cultural democracy in action. More...

Environmental Law in the Philippines, by Antonio A. Oposa, Jr., January 29, 2013, 11:45-1:00 pm, Moot Court Room, William S. Richardson School of Law.

The colloquium features Antonio A. Oposa, Jr., one of Asia's leading voices in the global arena of environmental law. In Minors Oposa v. Factoran (1993), the Philippine Supreme Court gave standing to the petitioners-children to take legal action on their behalf and on behalf of generations yet unborn, enforcing the principle of inter-generational responsibility. More...

Language Choice and Accommodation Strategies of Filipino Women Married to Malays, Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians, by Francisco Perlas Dumanig, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Languages and Linguistics University of Malaya, Malaysia, February 12, 2013, 12:00-1:30 pm, Moore Hall 155A.

Language choice has become a common phenomenon in mixed marriages in which speakers face with the challenge of choosing an appropriate language in various domains of communication. In multilingual and multiracial societies, language choice can sometimes be crucial because of its social, political, and economic impact on the speakers. Even in the smallest unit of a society which is the family, language choice and accommodation strategy play an important role particularly in interactions of couples who come from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. More...

Constructing Ilokano Identity in Rondalla Pedagogy, by Froilan Fabro, MA student (Ethnomusicology), UHM, February 13, 2013, 2:00-3:30 pm, Moore Hall 319.

This presentation is based on the fieldwork I conducted in the Philippines concerning the practice of Rondalla in the Ilocos Sur region. In the municipality of Santa Lucia, Ilocos Sur, the Ilokano identity is conflated with the national practice of the rondalla through their construction of a localized tuning system. This localized tuning system allows them to use fingering positions that transition freely between instruments. While this practice is useful for regional musical styles, I argue that this local tuning system excludes the Santa Lucia ensemble from national rondalla practice and handicaps local students aspiring to further their musical studies and perform in rondalla ensembles outside their region. More...

Jose Rizal and the Noli Me Tangere, A Century Hence: A Film and Lecture Series, sponsored by IPLL, CSEAS and CPS, April 5, 12, 19, 26, 1:00-4:00 pm, Hamilton 301.

This presentation takes a peek into an important work of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal. Three lectures by Dr. Pia Arboleda, on translating the Noli Me Tangere, April 5, 2013, 1:00-4:00 pm, Hamilton 301; Jovanie dela Cruz, on critical perspectives on Rizal, April 12, 2013, 1:00-4:00 pm, Hamilton 301; Dr. Patricio Abinales, on the strange nobility of Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, April 19, 2013, Hamilton 301; and Dr. Pia Arboleda again on kapihan at kuro-kuro - an open forum, April 26, 2013, 1:0-4:00 pm, Hamilton 301. The lectures will be conducted in conjunction with Eddie Romero's 13-episode telenovela (film) of Noli Me Tangere, courtesy of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. More... .

From Bonfire to Firewire: Ifiallig Orature Digitized, by Dr. Pia Arboleda, April 22, 2013, 3:00-4:30 pm, Moore Hall 319. Co-sponsored with Department of Indo-Pacific Languages and Literatures.

Long ago, in the magnificent mountains of Barlig, Mountain Province, Philippines, the Ifiallig would sit around the fires of the ator (council-house) to listen to tales of their hero-ancestors. Venerable storytellers (umu-ufok) recount these stories in the Finallig language. These stories (ub-ufok), handed down for many generations, serve as a record of their history, genealogy and cultural traditions. Ifiallig society used to revolve around the stories told within the walls of the ator. The death of influential village elders, with no one to take their place, will inevitably extinguish Barlig's orature, and along with this will vanish the beautiful stories that have given honor and value to the life of a people. More...