Teaching
I belong to the Department of History and am also a faculty affiliate of the PhD Philippine Studies Program and the Center for International Studies.
In the department I handle the graduate level seminars on Southeast Asia but I prefer to teach undergraduates. My best courses are the introductory course to the discipline (Kasaysayan 10) and the historiography series (Kasaysayan 199.1 and 199.2). As these courses entail historical writing, I hold individual tutorials in addition to lectures in class. In the tutorial I discuss the student’s draft and point out strengths and more frequently, weaknesses. Students appreciate the tutorials (despite their fear) because they see exactly what is right and wrong about their papers. This semester I have 38 students in my historiography class. These courses carry the regular teaching load credit (three units each).
Recent Research and Publications
Since 2000 I have had seven international publications, including an anthology of articles co-edited with an anthropologist from the National University of Vietnam-Hanoi. Most of my publications are chapters in books published by university publishers in the U.S., one publisher in the UK and Oxford University Press in New Delhi. I am the sole author of these chapters except for one, which I shared with an Australian professor of history now based at the National University of Singapore. My articles have dealt mostly with Southeast Asian history and the Philippines during the American colonial period.
In 2004 I contributed two articles to the book, Managing a Modern University in the Philippines, edited by Ester A. Garcia (UP Press): “Planning, Design, and Review of the Curriculum”, and “Assessment of Academic Performance”. But history is my true passion. I authored one volume (Up from the Ashes, vol. 8) and co-authored another (Life in the Colony, vol. 4) of the ten-volume series, Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People (1998) and have written mostly on the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
My current research interest is the link between memory and the construction of history, which I presented a paper on in a history conference last November.
Extension Service
In 1995-1999, I was a member of the CHED Technical Sub-committee on History. I continue to collaborate with the CHED as a consultant on curricular matters and the assessment of universities’ academic performance. At present I am evaluating CHED Centers of Excellence and Centers of Development in the field of teacher education.
Awards
I am one of twelve Centennial Fellows named by UP President E. Roman and am scheduled to deliver my lecture in October. Previous awards include UP International Publication Awards (2006, 2005, 2002, 2000, 1999); Outstanding Professional in Education by the UP Alumni Association (2000); UP (Diliman) Outstanding Book Award for the three-volume series on Democracy and Citizenship in the Philippines, the first volume of which I contributed to and edited (1998); and the Doña Aurora Aragon Quezon Peace Award (1995).
Involvement in International Research Organizations
I co-founded and direct SEASREP (Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program), an organization of Southeast Asian scholars established in 1995 to promote Southeast Asian studies in the region. Its grants, exchange and training programs have benefited UP faculty, research staff and students in the social sciences and the arts.
Since 2003 I have sat on the International Steering Committee of SEPHIS, a South-South exchange program for research on the history of development funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Development Cooperation. The Committee meets annually to award grants and plan various workshops. Last October I ran an international three-week training workshop for PhD students on research methods under the joint auspices of Sephis and SEASREP.
I am also a member of the International Advisory Committee of Sojourn, a refereed bi-annual journal of the Regional Social and Cultural Studies Program of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Administrative Experience
As Vice President for Academic Affairs (1999-2005), I helped conceptualize and implement the following: the revitalization of the General Education Program; the establishment of a range of incentives to support academic excellence (e.g. international publication awards, research grants, etc.); and the modernization laboratories, including the establishment of multimedia centers in every campus of the UP System.
Prior experience as an administrator was as Associate Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (1992-1998), Director of the UP Third World Studies Center (1995-1999), and Director of the Program on Peace, Democratization and Human Rights of the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (1995-1999). I also sat on the Executive Committee of CIDS.
Recently I was elected by the University Council to its Executive Committee (2008-2011), a position I was also elected to in the mid-1990s up to the time I was appointed VPAA. I also served on various department, College, University Council and UP System committees.