Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand 
why the old poets of China went so far
and high 
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver


Photo: Asian Center and University of Tokyo students together with Professor Shigeto Sonoda and Dr. Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes, Asian Center file photo.


The UP Asian Center hosted the 3rd International Workshop on the “Asian Student Survey” from 25 to 26 February 2016 at the Seminar Room, Hall of Wisdom, GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center, Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. 

In the workshop, students from the UP Asian Center and the University of Tokyo discussed and presented their respective papers, each of which analyzes data from the Asian Student Survey.

The Asian Student Survey was conducted among 8,000 elite college students across Asia in 2008 and 2013. The questions pertain to how they view the future of Asia—from career perspectives, gender, family, language/ethnicity, identity, ASEAN integration, emerging powers (China, India), popular culture, to disputes in the region.

Below are the names and respective titles of the presentation of the Asian Center graduate students who took part in the workshop and roundtable:

  • “Japanese Students’ Perspective on Global Threats” by Michelle Caoili
  • “Imagine Your Korea” by Hannah Esther Petrarche
  • “Digressing from the ASEAN Way?: A Closer Look at Views of Students from the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand” by Anna Patricia Valerio
  • “Foreign Entertainment Media Consumption and Public Opinion in Northeast Asia” by Alleson Villota II

Joining them in the workshop are students from the University of Tokyo.

  • “America’s Pivot to Improved Asian Public Opinion” by Thomas Sono Gregg
  • “Asia! What Do You Mean?”  by Naosuke Mukoyama and Sayumi Miyano
  • “Attitude Mapping of Asian People toward Integration in Asia” by Ryota Mugiyama
  • “Do Talented Students Work in Domestic Company?” by Kaoru Sonoda
  • “Preference towards Foreigners by Country of Origin in Comparative Perspective” by Fumiya Uchikoshi and Tate Kihara

The team of scholars from the University of Tokyo were accompanied by Shigeto Sonoda, Professor of Sociology at the University of Tokyo and Dr. Michiyo Yoneno-Reyes, Associate Professor at the UP Asian Center.

Themed “Changing Attitudes of the Students and the Future of Asia: Analysis of Asian Student Survey Integrated Dataset”, this year’s workshop is the continuation of two workshops in 2014 and 2015. For this year’s workshop, the papers will eventually be published as a book.

The project is funded by the Institute of Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo.


The Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. The Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website. View recent and upcoming Lectures & Conferences and read other News & Announcements.Join our mailing list to receive invitations to lectures, conferences, etc.