Friday, August 5, 2011

Two Days Immersed in Manila’s Past and Present: 20th Manila Annual Studies Conference

A storm looming over the country last week temporarily hindered the 20th Manila Studies Annual Conference to push through. But the heavens cleared on Thursday, July 28, and history teachers, historians, and history enthusiasts trooped to St. Scholastica’s College to attend the conference. I have been quite fortunate to obtain fund assistance to attend the said event.

The conference was composed of several paper presentations and I shall enumerate them in order of their actual presentation:


Day 1, July 28

“St. Scholastica’s College at the Turn of the Century, 1906-1945”
by Sister Angelica E. Leviste, OSB | St. Scholastica’s College

“Hijos de Enero Nueve: Quiapo’s Black Nazarene Procession as a Masculine Initiation Rite”
by Jose Alain Austria | De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, Manila

“An Overview of Binondo’s History”
by Teresita Ang See | Kaisa Para sa Kaularan
Richard T. Chu, Ph.D. | University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA

“The American Health Service vis-à-vis Plague Incidence in the Philippines”
by Eden M. Gripaldo, Ph.D. | University of the Philippines Diliman

“The Vitas Tenement Housing Project from the Diosdado Macapagal Administration to the Present: A Study on the Urban Poor’s Protracted Struggle for Decent Housing in the City of Manila”
by Marco Stefan B. Lagman | University of the Philippines Diliman
Angelito S. Nunag | University of the Philippines Pampanga

“Reforming Women’s Education in the Mid-19th Century”
by Marya Svetlana T. Camacho, Ph.D. | University of Asia and the Pacific

“Divisoria: Ang Pagsimula at Pagsulong ng Makasaysayang Pamilihang-Bayan”
by Gil Gotiangco II, Jr. | University of the Philippines Diliman

“Adapting the Western Ideology of Music Composition in the Last Half of the 19th-Century Manila”
by Jose S. Buenconsejo, Ph.D. | University of the Philippines Diliman

Day 2, July 29

“Maritime Images and the Austronesian Afterlife”
by Eusebio Z. Dizon, Ph.D. | The National Museum of the Philippines

“The University of Santo Tomas Printing Press in the 19th Century: The Collection of the UST Archives and the Rare Book Section of the Central Library”
by Ricky Jose | University of Sto. Tomas Archives

“TABLE WARS: Home Economics Becomes an Accidental Advocate for Philippine Culture Amidst an Americanization Campaign in Public Schools, 1904-1922”
by Felice Prudente Sta. Maria | Independent Scholar and Writer

“Nostalgia and the Globalist Impulse: Constructing City and History Thru Public Arts Projects” by Tessa Maria Guazon | University of the Philippines Diliman

“The Teachers’ Movement of Manila (1946-2006): History, Challenges, Prospects”
by Noel Christian A. Moratilla | St. Scholastica’s College

“The Golden Age of Philippine Theater: An Unintended Consequence of the Japanese Occupation of Manila”
by Marcelino M. Macapinlac, Jr. | St. Scholastica’s College


“Martyrdom at De La Salle College During the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines”
y Jose Victor D. Jimenez | De La Salle University Taft - Manila


“A Wartime Legacy: UST and Its Continuing Mission of Education During World War II, 1941-1945”
by Jose Victor Torres, Ph. D. | De La Salle University Taft - Manila



I came to appreciate the most the presentation on the Black Nazarene of Quiapo Church as I have never come across those details about the brotherhood that essentially steer the flow of the annual parade of the statue.

The Table Wars presentation was brief but definitely tickled our historical palates.

Also, the presentation of the UST Archives Regalado Trota Jose on some of the collections in the Archives was interesting. It makes one realize the importance of collecting documents however irrelevant they seem now. I wonder: is it possible to build a personal one?

Lastly, the two presentations from De La Salle University Taft are close (to use again my invented term) historical heart. Both concerned events during World War II (a personal favorite area of study), the one about De La Salle itself and the murder of some its Brothers, and the other one about UST and some of its relatively obscure stories during the War. The latter was particularly liberating as I have always thought of UST as that, the ever-resilient university in Sampaloc, Manila. It has indeed a long stretch of history during the tumultuous and confusing years of WWII.

In the end, I gained new friends – a mix of history teachers and history enthusiasts – and new insights on a how to attack certain researches on history. But I confess that I still have a long way to tread on this self-imposed study of history.

My message of thanks is extended to Dr. Bernardita R. Churchill for patiently responding to my e-mails prior to the conference.

3 comments:

  1. maraming salamat bro sa maganda mong review sa aming mga papel na binasa. sana magkita muli tayo sa susunod na taon sa FEU. naka-toka na sa akin ang mga sinkretikong altar ng Ongpin at San Nicolas.

    PS. tatapat ng lunes ang pista ng Quiapo kaya asahan daw na mas kaunti ang tao...pero mas grabe naman ang trapik sa maynila. magandang pagkakataon to para makita ng malapitan ang magulong-maayos na kalakaran sa prusisyon.

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  2. Salamat din Sir Jose sa pagdaan dito sa blog post na to. Mukang nakakapukaw yang sunod ninyong papel sa susunod na Manila Studies Conference at sana makarating uli ako.

    Yung sa Quiapo Sir, di ba makakabuting makapaglabas kayo ng isang publikasyon o di kaya isang monograph tungkol dito?

    Panghuli po, nabasa ko yung huli ninyong post sa Tumblr. Nakakatuwa ang kwento ng pagbalik ninyo sa larangan ng kasaysayan at sana magpatuloy pa yan. Ako man ay may interes sa kasaysayan (partikular sa lokal na kasaysayan ng lunsod namin dito sa Laguna) pero wala pa akong sapat na pormal na edukasyon (tapos kasi ako ng Applied Physics). Kahit papano, nakakatulong ang pagdalo sa mga kumprehensya sa pagkakaroon ng ideya kung papano ang approach sa mga pananaliksik ukol sa kasaysayan.

    Muli, salamat po!

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  3. Sa huling balita ni Dr. Churchill ay lalabas ang ilang mga piling papel mula sa kumperensyang ito sa susunod na taon...kaalinsabay ng ika-21 edisyon ng MSA sa FEU.

    Sana'y makarating ka sa kumperensyang iyon.

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