Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Clarita D.L. Carillo, PhD, delivered a plenary speech during the 3rd International Conference on Local Knowledge in the Face of the ASEAN Integration 2015, held from July 24-25, 2015, in the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City. The conference was organized by the Asian University Digital Resource Network.
In her speech, Dr. Carillo talked about the University of Santo Tomas’ response to the challenges of ASEAN 2015. She presented the University’s response to the threefold thrusts of higher education institutions—teaching, research and community service—and likewise presented how UST’s recent moves are aligned with the ASEAN Integration 2015 and the ASEAN Vision 2020.Dr. Carillo underscored the need to face the challenges head-on, mentioning the imperative changes in organization and structure, faculty development, curriculum, learning, research, quality assurance and international competitiveness, as she highlighted that the ASEAN Integration is a clear manifestation of the need for higher education institution’s to embrace internationalization as the new norm.
Also in the same conference, Asst. Prof. Mary Ann Venturina-Bulanadi, a faculty member of the Department of Interior Design, presented about the exhibitions she and her colleagues mounted in 2011. Her paper, “Celebrating Art and Culture during the University of Santo Tomas Quadricentennial Year,” presented how temporary exhibitions can be research outputs themselves. This provided the members with valuable tips on how to mount and curate impressive exhibitions that are not only impressive in terms of aesthetics but are likewise substantive in terms of content.
Bulanadi said that exhibits “make people remember and clarify the events and things that happened in the past, to add to existing knowledge and most of all, to gain a greater appreciation of how things were in the beginning of time.” She used this as a springboard to conduct a thorough analysis of the exhibitions done during the Quadricentennial year, in order to gain a clearer understanding of history and culture. Bulanadi’s exhibits were part of her research in the old Center for Intercultural Studies, which is now with the Research Center for Culture, Education and Social Issues.
