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

Together with their colleagues across UP’s constituent universities, eight faculty members of the UP Asian Center received UP Diliman Centennial Professorial Chairs and Faculty Grants in recognition of their research and mentoring efforts in 2020.
The Awards were formally conferred during the University Council meeting on 18 October 2021. Below are the awardees from the UP Asian Center.
Centennial Professorial Awardees
  • Jocelyn Celero, PhD, Assistant Professor
  • Noel Moratilla, PhD, Assistant Professor
  • Michelle Palumbarit, PhD, Assistant Professor
  • Tina Clemente, PhD, Professor
  • Joefe Santarita, PhD, Professor
  • Henelito A. Sevilla, PhD, Associate Professor
Faculty Grant Awardee
  • Ariel Lopez, PhD, Assistant Professor

View Faculty Profiles and Publications


According to Memorandum No. OVCAA-MTTP 20-009, dated 6 May 2020, UP faculty qualify for the awards if “they have a doctoral degree; show proof of research or creative output; and show proof of mentoring.”
The Awards exclude “current awardees of other professorial chairs/faculty grants” and entail a point system where awardees received at least 4 points, scored according to the foregoing criteria. 
Research outputs pertain to at least one creative work (like an artwork or exhibit) or a journal article or book chapter published in selected journals and/or publishers at a designated time frame. The mentoring criteria include thesis/dissertation advising. 

The UP 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.