The University of Santo Tomas Graduate School (GS) launched a lecture series co-organized with the Asian Journals Network (AJN) featuring the chief editors of AJN last March 1, 2025 at the Tanghalang Teresita Quirino. The event was hosted in a hybrid flexible (HyFlex) setup, with USTGS students attending both onsite and online through the livestream via the Official USTGS Facebook page.
Featured editors were Assoc. Prof. Vincenz Serrano, Ph.D. and Assoc. Prof. Michael Pante, Ph.D., editors-in-chief of Kritika Kultura, and Philippine Studies respectively; both journals are published by the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Press. Serrano, one of the two featured lecturers, is the co-convenor of AJN.
UST-GS Dean Prof. Michael Anthony C. Vasco, Ph.D., officially opened the lecture series with his welcoming remarks. AJN Founder and Main Convenor, and former UST UNITAS editor-in-chief Prof. Maria Luisa T. Reyes, Ph.D., delivered the opening remarks to officially launch the lecture series.
In her opening remarks, Reyes said that AJN “hopes that the spirit of collaboration will continue to underpin the drive for competitiveness of its member journals.” Afterwards, Pante and Serrano discussed their journals’ history, scope, interests, coverage, regular and special features, and protocols. They also invited the audience to send articles, encouraging emerging scholars to publish their research.
The guest chief editors, during the event, then officially joined AJN; among its members are: Journal of Language and Literature (Universitas Sanata Dharma, Indonesia), Poetika (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia), Wacana (Universitas Indonesia), Dialektika (Universitas Kristen Indonesia), Mobility Humanities (Konkuk University, Korea), Cross-Cultural Studies (Kyung Hee University, Korea), Southeast Asian Media Studies Journal (Southeast Asian Media Studies Association), Center for Southeast Asian Studies (Kyoto University), Forum for World Literature Studies (Zhejiang University, China), Frontiers of Narrative Studies (Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China), Concentric (National Taiwan Normal University), The Wenshan Review (National Chengchi University, Taiwan), Kritike (UST), Philippiniana Sacra (UST), Akda (De La Salle University), Kinaadman (Xavier University, Philippines), and Kritika Kultura (AdMU).
Newer members of the AJN include the Island Studies journal (South China University of Technology (SCUT), Guangdong), Folk, Knowledge, Place (SCUT), Asian Journal of English Language Studies (UST), Tomas (UST), The Cordillera Review (University of the Philippines Baguio), Philosophia (Philippine National Philosophical Research Society), and Philippine Studies (AdMU).
AJN is the pioneer consortium of journals in Asia whose chief editors mutually support members towards ensuring excellence in journal production, promoting initiatives and related advocacies of member journals, and collectively contributing to knowledge production in the Asian region. Together, AJN editors hope to help level the playing field in these areas of research and scholarship in today’s tightly competitive academic journal publishing following the profit-driven logic neo-liberal globalization.
UST-GS’ hosting marks UST’s participation in the global efforts toward achieving excellence in research and scholarship that reaches the light of quality journal publication.
