Autonomy and Expectations: The Evolution of University Social Research Centers A Public Lecture by Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz

Autonomy and Expectations: The Evolution of University Social Research Centers

A Public Lecture by Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz

In cooperation with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development and
Center for Integrative and Development Studies

25 June 2013 (Tuesday) 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Third World Studies Center

Lower Ground Floor, Palma Hall

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City

ABOUT THE LECTURE

This study tries to make sense of the evolution of nine University Social Research Centers in the Philippines (USRCs). It provides an explanation for the tensions and crises some of these USRCs have faced in the past and some continue to face today.

Luhmannian systems analysis is extended to frame the situation in terms of autonomy and expectations. USRCs are analyzed as organizations struggling to maintain their autonomy in the midst of expectations from other social systems. USRCs are located within the context of their relationships with their universities, their funders, and the people associated with these USRCs. It also shows how the changing environment affected these USRCs.

Tensions and crises faced by USRCs can be accounted for by two factors: incongruent expectations between these USRCs and systems in their environment, and the inability of USRCs to adequately respond to changes in their environment.

Incongruent expectations can be seen in the relationship between the USRCs and their universities in terms of differences in their understanding of the nature of a university, differences in research orientation, differences in expectations for researchers, and differences in expectations for university decision programs and channels. USRCs’ tendency to align themselves with the expectations of funders further marginalizes them from their university.

Key environmental changes that affect USRCs include changes in personnel in all organizations involved, the increase in competition, and changing practices in knowledge production for both universities and policy-oriented research. Some USRCs were not able to evolve along with the changes in their environment.

Various strategies deployed by USRCs, universities, and people associated with these USRCs are also discussed and this study shows how these strategies either strengthened or weakened USRC autonomy.

PROGRAM
2:30-2:40
Opening Remarks and Introduction of Speaker
Dr. Ricardo T. Jose
Director, UP TWSC and
Professor, Department of History
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman

2:40-3:05
Lecture
Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz
Director and Assistant Professor, Development Studies Program, Ateneo de Manila University and
PhD Student, Department of Sociology,
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman

3:05-3:20
Reaction
Dr. Zosimo E. Lee
Professor, Department of Philosophy, and
Former Dean, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman

3:20-4:00
Open Forum
         

Divided Hearts and Loyalties: A Lecture by Dr. Richard T. Chu

Divided Hearts and Loyalties: 

On the Familial and Religious Practices of 

Catholic Chinese Merchant Families in Manila 

during the Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries

SCHEDULE
5 July 2013 (Friday), 10:00 - 11:30 AM

VENUE
Third World Studies Center Conference Room, Lower Ground Floor, Palma Hall, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines-Diliman

ABSTRACT
Insincere Catholics? Disloyal Spanish subjects? These were some of the descriptions ascribed to a number of Chinese merchants living in Manila during the late Spanish and American colonial periods. For many of these individuals and their families, engaging in “border-crossing” practices was a strategy that they used to adapt to, collude with, or evade the attempts by dominant groups to control their minds, bodies, and resources. The lecture describes some of these familial and religious practices, e.g., polygamy, adoption, apostasy, “dual” citizenship that may appear to the colonial rulers (and to contemporary eyes) as “insincere,” “immoral,” or “disloyal.” Utilizing new or underutilized historical materials, it reframes such practices from the perspective of transnationalism to suggest new ways of understanding Filipino and Tsinoy ethnic identities, history, and culture.

ABOUT THE LECTURER
Richard T. Chu is Five-College Associate Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has published various articles focusing on the history of the Chinese and Chinese mestizos in the Philippines and centering on issues of ethnicity, gender, and nationalism. He is also the author of Chinese and Chinese Mestizos of Manila: Family, Identity, and Culture 1860s–1930s (E.J. Brill, 2010; Anvil 2012) and Chinese Merchants of Binondo during the Late Nineteenth Century (University of Santo Tomas Press, 2010). He is currently working on his next book project that analyses the different newspaper articles and other textual materials dealing with the “Chinaman” question in the Philippines during the American colonial period.

Professor Chu holds an MA degree from Stanford University and a PhD degree from the University of Southern California. He teaches courses on Pacific empires, Philippine colonial history, Asian American history, the Chinese diaspora, and world history.

Asian Democracy Review Vol. 1 (2012) Now Available Online

The full content of the Asian Democracy Review Vol. 1 (2012) is now available online, free of charge. 

The Asian Democracy Review (ISSN 2244-5633) is the annual journal of the Consortium for the Asian Democracy Index, a network of research institutes and independent researchers working on the development of the Asian Democracy Index. Apart from the yearly country reports on the conduct of Asian Democracy Index surveys, the journal publishes scholarly papers on democracy and democratization processes in Asia.

To access its full content click here.

New Third World Studies Center Director

The Third World Studies Center is pleased to announce its new director, Dr. Ricardo T. Jose. Dr. Jose is a full professor at the Department of History, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. He obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in history from UP Diliman and his PhD in history/area studies from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. He is considered an expert in military and diplomatic history, especially that of Philippine-Japan relations and World War II in the Philippines.   

Please address official communications to the Center to Dr. Jose. Official e-mails may be sent to uptwsc@gmail.com.

Internship Opportunity at TWSC

The Third World Studies Center (TWSC) welcomes applicants to its Volunteer-Internship Program (VIP). The TWSC VIP is designed for social science undergraduate, graduate, and foreign exchange students of the University of the Philippines with particular interest in critical political economy, democratization, and political culture. The program provides an opportunity for volunteers-interns to assist in and learn from the various research, publications, and training projects and activities of the Center. It is a non-salaried program and does not guarantee future employment in the organization.

Eligibility
The TWSC only selects four volunteer-interns. Applicants must at least:

• be 18 years old,
• have junior status and be enrolled in the University of the Philippines at the time of application,
• be in good academic standing,
• have good writing skills (English),
• have a background in technical writing and research methodologies, and
• be able to complete specific assignments on deadlines.

Preference will be given to students who require internship credits, and/or whose academic work (thesis, etc.) relates with any of the TWSC’s research focus. TWSC encourages long-term internship work, and will give preference to applicants who can stay with the Center for a minimum period of three months and can work for at least 50 hours a month.

Application Process
To apply, please send the following:

• a comprehensive curriculum vitae,
• a true copy of grades for all previous semesters (or a printout of grades from CRS), and
• an application letter addressed

to:

Dr. Ricardo T. Jose
Director
Third World Studies Center
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy
Palma Hall Basement
University of the Philippines
Diliman 1101 Quezon City
e-mail: uptwsc@gmail.com

Submit requirements to Emerald O. Flaviano at the Third World Studies Center.