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


Asian Center graduate students awarded at the 2016 Parangal sa Mag-aaral (L-R): Shayne Taay, Angelo Arriola, Emme Suelto, Jhoanna De Leon, Ven Inting, Paulo Villar, Virgilio Gener, Gilbert Que, Wayne Uyseco, and Yvan Yonaha. Not in photo: Clarissa Camaya, Jeremiah Adriano, Brenson Andres, and Gabriel Honrada. 


Twelve UP Asian Center graduate students were recognized for their academic performance at a ceremony, the 2016 Parangal sa Mag-aaral, held last 18 May 2016 at the University Theater, University of the Philippines Diliman. Below are the students who received awards as University Scholars either for the second semester, A.Y. 2014-2015 and the first semester, A.Y. 2015-2016. University Scholars are students whose General Weighted Average (GWA) within a semester is 1.45 or higher:

  • Jeremiah S. Adriano
  • Brenson Y. Andres
  • Angelo Christianne D.M. Arriola
  • Clarissa M. Camaya
  • Jhoanna Andrea E. De Leon
  • Virgilio Angelo G. Gener
  • Gabriel Joel P. Honrada
  • Ven Carmen D’Marie V. Inting
  • Shayne Kay L. Taay
  • Wayne Winter J. Uyseco
  • Paulo Benedicto C. Villar
  • Yvan Ysmael T. Yonaha

At the same time, Gilbert Que received the Student Achiever award for winning 1st Place in a photography contest organized by the Indian Embassy in the Philippines last 26 January 2015. The Student Achiever award is granted to students who have received national and international awards, as well as recent alumni who topped professional licensure examinations. Mr. Que is a recent graduate of the UP Asian Center; he majored in South Asian Studies, finishing a master’s thesis on the role of Bollywood in the identity-formation of second-generation South Asian migrants to the Philippines. 


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.