MSU-IIT Chancellor Dr. Sukarno D. Tanggol and the Vice Chancellor for Research & Extension Dr. Jinky B. Bornales led the turnover ceremony of the Premier Research Institute of Science and Mathematics (PRISM) and the Launching of its core program for 2017-2027, the Discovery, Development and Delivery of Natural Products (D3NP) at the Conference Hall, second floor of the PRISM building on March 29, 2017. The PRISM was established as a research center of the College of Science & Mathematics (CSM) on December 18, 2015 envisioned “to generate principles, protocol and products that provide dynamic and innovative solutions to society and the environment.” Part of its mandate as published in its brochure are to foster, facilitate, and strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers of various fields of Science, Mathematics and allied fields; initiate further linkages and partnerships with local, national, and international companies, generate patents of generated technologies for commercial purposes developed from its research programs; and, to provide support to the general community. In November this year, the PRISM Council was created and the building was inaugurated the following month. There are eight research groups to share the offices and facilities of PRISM. These are the Nanoscience Group; the Natural Product and Drug Development Program; the Complex Systems Group; the Renewable Energy Group; the Climate Change Research Group; the Biodiversity Group; the Applied Mathematics and Statistics Group; and the Theoretical Science Group. Dr. Ferdinand P. Jamil, former CSM Dean is now the PRISM’s first Acting Director.
MSU-IIT’s contribution to Culture, Art, and Performance Studies has taken off with three successive events in four days. Participating were over 300 teachers, practitioners, and students conversing on “evolving a Philippine School-of-Thought”.
Three colloquiums that marked the auspicious progress of our Culture and Arts Studies, the only one in the country today, gauge the state of disciplines envisioned by the Program.
First was the seminar on “Arts Administration in the Philippine Context” opening the series last March 8. Arts Manager Carmencita Jasareno-Bernardo of the Cultural Exchange Department, Cultural Center of the Philippines, lectured and facilitated a workshop on strategies on how art and cultural resources may be managed.
In the second day on March 9, seven graduate students presented papers using their innovative methodologies that described the form and directions the pedagogy and their productions will take. Performance specialist Dr. Jazmin Llana, Ph.D, Associate Professor of De La Salle University and alumna of the Aberystwyth University keynoted the forum discussing the possibility of a Philippine school-of-thought.
Both Bernardo and Llana are with the faculty of the Studies.
U.P. Diliman through its Office for Initiatives for Culture and the Arts (OICA) co-hosted the third event on March 10 and 11. Titled “Theatre and Cultural Performances in the Philippines (Focus on Mindanao), the UP team also presented its large-scale project “Digital Humanities” to involve the MSU-IIT in gathering all possible information through digital media in these disciplines.
The third forum had theatre specialist Dr. S. Anril P. Tiatco, Ph.D (“Performance in the Philippines”), UP Dean Amihan B. Ramolete, Ph.D (“Puppetry in the Philippines”), Dr. Christine Godinez-Ortega, DFA (“Mindanao Epics”), Prof. Hobart P. Savior, MA (“Dramaturgy in Contemporary Mindanao Theatre”), and the Studies Founder Dr. Steven P.C. Fernandez, DFA (“Performing Arts in Mindanao”).
Distinguished panel members who critiqued the proposals were Dr. Nelia Balgoa, DHS, and Dr. Victor Sugbo, Ph.D.
Since its launch in August 2015 (with endowment from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts), the program has taken the first steps in establishing an inter-discipline taking off from paradigms of European and American academic and performance studies centers. It sets directions for Philippine scholarship, production, and the management of cultural-performance resources.
Last year, the MSU-IIT Board of Regents approved the establishment of the Culture and Arts Studies Center with Fernandez as Founding Director. The Center’s goal is to establish a hub for Culture, Performance, and Arts Studies situating such initiatives in locations where intersecting cultures make these studies dynamic.
Contributing resources for the establishment of this program are the Integrated Performing Arts Guild – Artists Resource Management, Inc., Dept. of English, School of Graduate Studies, Cultural Development Office, and the NCCA. – Contributed news
