Tuesday, October 31, 2006

SU Hosts 28th UGAT Conference

SU Hosts 28th UGAT Conference
The Visayan Daily Star
Negros Oriental


The Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao Inc., or The Anthropological Association of the Philippines, held its 28th annual national conference at Silliman University, in Dumaguete City last week.

Silliman was also host to the 4th UGAT conference in 1981. About a hundred participants researchers, anthropology graduate students, teachers, and other related practitioners interested in the discipline, attended the conference.

The three-day conference was sponsored by the Philippine Social Science Council, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the UP Department of Anthropology.

Apart from holding annual national conferences and round-table discussions, UGAT sponsors symposia on various issues affecting indigenous peoples and related problems confronting the peasantry and the urban poor. It also undertakes research training to government organizations and non-government organizations, and seminar-workshops on health, literacy, nutrition and food technology, and people's advocacy affecting national policies.

The speech of Silliman University president Dr. Ben Malayang III was anchored on the theme, "The Philippines Unbound: Anthropological Critiques of Globalization." Welcome messages were given by Dr. Betsy Joy Tan, SU vice-president for academic affairs; City Administrator Engr. Dominador Dumalag Jr.; Vice-Governor Jose Baldado; and, Dr. Eufracio Abaya, UGAT president.*RG

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2006/October/31/negor6.htm

Saturday, October 28, 2006

UGAT 28th Annual Conference - The Philippines Unbound: Anthropological Critiques of Globalization

UGNAYANG PANG-AGHAMTAO, INC. (UGAT)
Anthropological Association of the Philippines

28TH Annual Conference of the Anthropological Association of the Philippines
"The Philippines Unbound: Anthropological Critiques of Globalization"
26-28 October 2006
Silliman University, Dumaguete City




Download UGAT 28th Annual Conference photos here:

Reinventing Anthropology

Reinventing Anthropology
The Visayan Daily Star
Opinions


It took a quarter of a century for Dumaguete City to play host again to the annual conference of the Ugnayang Pang-Aghamtao Inc. whose 28th national conference ends today. Back in 1981, Silliman University hosted the fourth UGAT annual national conference with the theme, "The Anthropology of Power."

This year's theme, "The Philippines Unbound: Anthropological Critiques of Globalization," is timely as it is relevant. Despite the advances brought about by development and modern technology, the issue of globalization is plagued by poverty, unemployment, lack of classrooms and textbooks, environmental degradation, and moral decadence. In short, globalization remains an empty word to a breadwinner of a family of six trying to make both ends meet. One of the points raised in the three-day conference was the view that migration and the distances created among people is detrimental to the Filipino family and culture.

It was figured out that it actually all depends on which perspective you are taking, the optimist's or the pessimist's. Or, as the analogy is brought further, it is like deciding whether the glass is half-empty or half-full. In the end, it is a mere re-configuring of households and the strategies they take to live a more decent life. There are values and structures that endure for a certain family that may not work well for other families, thus, it is ephemeral. Media play a role, too, in crafting a good life because of migration.

Anthropology has always been at the forefront of critical reflections of current and past issues. It empowers communities against all forms of violations of human rights engendered by globalization.*

http://www.visayandailystar.com/2006/October/28/opinion.htm