In its 1307th meeting held on 29 April 2015, the Board of Regents, University of the Philippines System approved the appointment of Dr. Joefe B. Santarita as Dean of the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. He succeeds Dr. Eduardo T. Gonzalez in this capacity and will serve from 1 May 2015 to 30 April 2018.
Dean Santarita is also Associate Professor at the Asian Center, and coordinates the college’s South Asia Studies program. He handles graduate-level courses on Asian history, the Filipino diaspora, and South Asian history, culture, politics, and society, among others. Prior to joining the Asian Center faculty, Dr. Santarita taught at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas and at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, where he was a Fulbright awardee.
As Dean of the Asian Center, he is also a member of the Tri-College Ph.D. Philippine Studies Program Council, along with the deans of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) and the College of Arts and Letters (CAL).
Dean Santarita obtained his Ph.D. in South Asian Studies from the National University of Singapore with a dissertation, “India-Philippine Relations in the Context of India’s Look East Policy.” He completed his MA in Asian Studies, majoring in Southeast Asia, at the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman and his BA in History-Community Development at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas.
He specializes on Indian studies, migration studies, Philippine culture and society, maritime history, and Southeast Asian political economy. His latest publications include “Migration and Business: A Survey of Indian Communities in the Philippines,” which appeared in Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the journal published by the Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. He is also the author of “Growth and Government: The Rise of Information in India and the Philippines’ Technology Enabled Services’ Centres,” which was published in a book, State, Society and Information Technology in Asia. He has also published book chapters on the Sikh community in the Philippines and on Indian influences in the country.
Dean Santarita’s complete faculty profile may be viewed here. Photo: Joefe B. Santarita, Ph.D. Courtesy of the Diliman Information Office.
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. For other news and upcoming events at the Asian Center, click here.