Slots are still available for select graduate courses in Asian Studies and in Philippine Studies for the second semester, Academic Year 2017–2018. There are three courses on development in the Philippines, one on social and economic development in Korea, and another one on colonial medicine in South and Southeast Asia. Enrollment has been extended to 15 January 2018! 

Philippine Studies (PS) 224: Philippine Industrialization and Urbanization

This course is a critical evaluation of Philippine urbanization and industrializa­tion trends and their impact on the urban sector and Philippine society in general. Both industrialization and urbanization under certain condi­tions can be seen as intertwined expressions of unleashed se­minal socio-economic dynamics. In many countries, however, (i) economic stagnation, (ii) development characterized by poor industrialization/modernization dynamics, or simply (iii) non-development come alongside heavy urbanization which often is ex­pressed in terms of spatial movements/migrations. In order to develop an understanding of the forces and condi­tions that contribute to urbanization/migration and indu­strialization pattern we need to get to know more about the socioeconomic backdrop against which both phenomena are taking place. Starting out from a review of Philippine Industrialization, the course will discuss central concepts used in approaching urba­nization/migration pattern. Special focus is put on implica­tions drawn from the mode of production perspec­tive. By the end of the semester, students will be able to review and discuss industrialization and urbanization/­mi­gration patterns, and to relate the same to underlying socio-economic structures; to define and select key indicators for qualitatively different so­cio-economic conditions and to develop hypotheses based thereon; and to review urbanization pattern in the context of supposedly qua­litative shifts between societal or economic poles at oppo­site ends of dichotomies which aim to capturing metamor­phic societal processes of development (such as tradi­tional/modern, rural/urban, non-agricultural/agricultural, and pre-capitalist/capital­ist). 

Philippine Studies (PS) 233: Issues in Philippine Development

This course is a Critical Review and Assessment of Specific Social, Political, Economic and Cultural Issues in Philippine Development. Both human rights violations such as extra-judicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances, and the marginalization of indigenous people are factors that tangent Philippine development. Aiming to understand Philippine power structures as the societal backdrop, this course will discuss the social, political, economic and cultural dimensions of these phenomena. The course aims to help the student in understanding and examining the role of societal formation in line with several issues in Philippine development. At the end of the course the student should be able to evaluate patterns and roles of human rights violations along the time axis; to discuss different forms of violence and marginalization within the nexus of development and domination; and to review paradigm shifts in the leadership of IP communities against the backdrop of integrations of IP communities to mainstream economic systems.

Philippine Studies 222: Development Theories/Development Processes in the Philippines

This course is a critical assessment of theories of development, viewed in the Philippine context. Development theories focus on differences in the level of economic and/or societal development attained by advanced countries/economies and countries/regions that fell behind in development or did not enter catch-up development processes. Particularly, development theories aim (i) to explain, or point to, factors which cause non-development or underdevelopment; and/or (ii) to provide strategies that lead towards catch-up development. This class revolves mainly, though not exclusively, on core, i.e., economic issues. At the end of the semester, the students will be able to explain, and critically reflect on, major theoretical or conceptual approaches to development such as, but not limited to, modernization theories, stage theory (Marx), the dual sector model, and dependency theory; to explain, and critically reflect on, economic policies which aim to lead towards catch-up development; and to reflect on analytical approaches which cite structural factors in explaining persistent non-development or sluggish dynamics in development, respectively.

Philippine Studies 288.2: Readings in Philippine Development

This course offers a special focus of indigenous peoples in the development process. At the end of the semester, the students will be able to critically discuss changes in the leadership paradigm of Indigenous Peoples vis-à-vis socio-economic shifts; to critically reflect on the role primitive accumulation in Philippine rural development; and to discuss the function of ethnicity in Philippine development processes.

Asian Studies (AS) 264: Colonial Medicine in Southeast Asia and South Asia (Disease, Medicine, and Empire)

This seminar will explore the emergence of public health and its techniques within the colonial context. Taking the Philippines as a case study, this course examines how the colonial encounter between the United States and the Philippines set off a process of knowledge production about bodies, population, health, sexuality, and morality. The course will explore how the colony became the laboratory of hygiene and modernity which allowed the Empire’s experimentation with scientific and progressive interventions. Disease prevention, hygiene and sanitary reforms, and surveillance, became not only techniques of pacification but also formed part of a civilizing project. This course opens up discussions of contemporary issues related to global health, health policy, governance, and politics The course will also examine readings in Southeast Asia and South Asia. A version of this course was taught for two years in Wellesley College.

Asian Studies (AS) 237.1: Social and Economic Development in Korea

g

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. 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.