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Isaac
Donoso Jimenez
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Isaac
Donoso Jimenez
is a Spanish national enrolled in the IIS MA program since the
second semester of AY 2004. Isaac is currently writing his
dissertation about the Muslims in the Philippines for his degree in
Arabic Philosophy at the Universidad de Alicante, Spain. According
to him, when he presented his chosen topic to his adviser it was
rejected since there was little interest on Muslims in Southeast
Asia, more so, the Muslims in the Philippines. However, he talked
to the Dean of the Department of Islamic Studies to reconsider his
proposal. “I got the approval for my topic but I have to work for
it all by myself,” he said. Searching for possible universities in
the Philippines, he came across the IIS website and started making
inquiries regarding the possibility of enrolment in the Institute.
To realize his plan, he applied for a scholarship grant in Spain
which was approved after a year.
Isaac knew that he would be encountering a lot of challenges and
difficulties adjusting to the environment. At first, he just
intended to get subjects relevant to his research on the Muslims in
the Philippines but after finishing one semester, he decided to earn
a master’s degree in Islamic Studies here. Despite being a
foreigner, Isaac easily adjusted and have won a lot of friends at
the Institute and enjoy the opportunity of being able to talk to the
Muslim students and share interesting discourses on Islam and other
issues confronting the Muslims in this country.
Speaking about his experiences, Isaac notes: “The IIS library
collection are housing good materials and helping me a lot in my
research”. His first impression about the IIS was that it was an
institution where the Philippine government places Islamic Studies
under control through the University but later I found out that it
is not the case because here everyone is free to challenge thoughts
and ideas in a “free-wheeling discussion inside or outside the
classroom. My close interactions with both the IIS faculty members
and the students gave me the opportunity to understand the Muslim
Filipino’s culture and some concepts such as Bangsamoro; Muslim
identity and their cultural values which added to my very limited
knowledge that I got from the few books I have read before”, he
stressed.
At 26, Isaac is already an author of a book titled: “Historical
Ethnography of the Morisco Space” published in 2005. He aims to
graduate this school year and hopefully return to Spain to finish
his dissertation.▼ |
