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

The Global Turn in PH Historiography: Asian Center Staff Presents Paper in SEA Conference in Taipei

Details

Janus Isaac Nolasco, University Researcher at the UP Asian Center, delivered a paper, “The Philippines Meets World: The Global Turn in Contemporary Philippine Historiography” at the 1st Asian Conference for Young Scholars of Southeast Asian Studies (AYSEA) which was held from 9 to 12 November 2016, at the Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. 

Below is an abstract of Mr. Nolasco’s presentation.

The contemporary global turn in Philippine historiography pertains to scholarship that has broadened the terms by which Philippine history, culture, and society are (re)imagined as part of -- and interacting with -- a region, empire, or the world. The contemporary global turn has shed new light on perennial topics and has opened up hitherto unexplored topics and vistas of research on Philippine historiography.  This paper describes this trend and adduces several factors to help explain its emergence and significance.  The contemporary global turn, I argue, represents the latest development in Philippine Studies, one which departs from and deepens a historiography that sees the nation’s history, culture, and society less as an autonomous, self-enclosed entity than a fluid reality embedded in regional or global contexts.

Mr. Janus Isaac Nolasco majored in Western Asia for his masters degree in Asian Studies, and has been working at the UP Asian Center since 2012. Apart from his continuing passion for Islamic history and society, his research interests include literature, philosophy, and cultural studies, migration, and Asian history. Some of his essays have appeared in The Manila Review and the Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia, most recently “Reel Justice: Filipino Action Movies in a Time of Killing.” 

With a theme, “Democratization, Regionalization and Globalization in Southeast Asia,” AYSEA sought to provide “a venue for young scholars from the Consortium (SEASIA) member institutions to share research insights, seek common voices, and examine regional traditions of Southeast Asian studies in Asia.” VIEW CONFERENCE WEBPAGE.

The Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA) is comprised of ten leading area-studies institutions in Northeast and Southeast Asia, including the UP Asian Center. SEASIA is “building on the imperative to promote region-based Southeast Asian Studies” and aim to facilitate “research collaboration and networking” as well as the sharing of vital information. VIEW THE SEASIA WEBSITE.

AYSEA is organized by the Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA); Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University; Institute of International Relations, National Chengchi University, Taiwan; Center for Southeast Asian Studies, National Chengchi University, Taiwan; and Taiwan Association of Southeast Asian Studies (TASEAS), Taiwan. 

The UP Asian Center offers M.A. programs 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. Get an overview of these programs. The Asian Center also houses a peer-reviewed, open-access journal, Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia. It has published several books and monographs, and hosts or organizes various lectures and conferences.