PS 21, ENG 13, PAN PIL 19, SPEECH 30, SEA 30 (AH) SYNTHESIS
Last May 10, 2021, the Arts and Humanities Conversation of UP System GE Conference 2021 was conducted via Zoom with a corresponding live stream on YouTube. The AH Conversation was composed of five GE courses: PS 21, Eng 13, Pan Pil 19, Speech 30, and SEA 30.
Panel members from both the UP Diliman and UP Cebu presented on the AH Conversation, which consists of Assistant Professor Karlo Mikhail Mongaya (DFPP-UPD), Associate Professor Rose Arong (UP Cebu), Associate Professor Pauline Mari Hernando (DFPP-UPD), Assistant Professor Raymond Macapagal (CIS-UPD), Assistant Professor Charles Erize Ladia (DSCTA-UPD), and Assistant Professor Grace Saqueton (DECL-UPD). The whole session was moderated by Associate Professor Nancy Kimuell-Gabriel from DFPP-UPD and the UPD GE Center.
The first to present for the AH Conversation was Assistant Professor Karlo Mikhail Mongaya of UP Diliman for the GE Course “PS 21: Wika, Panitikan, at Kultura sa Ilalim ng Batas Militar”. Originally, the course originated from DFPP-UP Diliman and was adopted by UP Cebu. PS 21’s relevance as an avenue for instilling the importance of human rights, social justice, struggle for freedom to new generation of students as well as dissecting historical revisionism was reiterated. It was also pointed out that Martial Law was a golden age of Philippine arts and literature. It was also shared that the course has been red tagged by the military as early as October 2019.
Associate Professor Rose Arong was the next to present and share her experiences in teaching PS 21. For UP Cebu. She looked for readings that are inclusive or those focusing on the Visayas or Mindanao region. There was a mention of localization, which is giving importance to context of the south and integrating it to the course’s syllabus. Assoc. Prof. Arong’s approach to teaching was holistic, involving other topics such as epidemiology, banality of evil, and migration.
Both speakers identified changes done to adapt to online remote learning as the COVID-19 pandemic struck, including the creation of course packs. Fortunately, digitized materials, apps, online news footage, and online materials were readily available to students. Changes to assessment were also mentioned, such as the option for podcasts, use of Google Docs, and annotated PDF tools. Challenges were also cited such as shrinking democratic spaces, and the lack of access to gadgets and Internet.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor Pauline Mari Hernando presented for “Pan Pil 19: Sexwalidad, Kasarian, at Panitikan”. Several innovations on teaching the course during the COVID-19 pandemic were identified. These include following existing guidelines for online remote learning and intensive preparation of course packs which cover activities such as collecting and summarizing reading materials. As for the challenges, she cited three: economic, logistic, and physical or psychological challenges. To adapt to these challenges, minimum number of requirements were given, lectures and materials were constantly sent, and students were regularly communicated.
Assistant Professor Grace Saqueton for “Eng 13: Writing as Thinking” imparted that the main considerations she identified along with her department for choosing asynchronous mode of teaching include “efficiency, accessibility, equality, flexibility for students and teachers”, as well as “care and concern”. One significant change upon shifting to remote learning is the implementation of online activities, which is collaborative in nature.
Assistant Professor Charles Erize P. Ladia presented next for the GE course “Speech 30: Public Speaking and Persuasion”. Three challenges were identified during the presentation: access of students to resources, building teamwork and collaboration, as well as the necessity of taped, public speeches. On the other hand, remote learning presented opportunities like recalibrating and redesigning the course. The COVID-19 pandemic also opened new innovations such as the use of online applications and platforms like TikTok and YouTube, and the use of online classroom management tools such as UVLE, Google Classroom, Google Sites, Calendly, Flip Grid, Google Slides, and Padlet.
The final presenter is Assistant Professor Raymond Macapagal for “SEA 30: Asian Emporiums: Networks of Culture and Trade in Southeast Asia” which deals with cultural heritage, political-social movements and maritime trade. This course has an experiential approach to teaching and learning before the pandemic. As the COVID-19 pandemic struck, faculty members teaching the course tried to supplement with online out-of-classroom learning experiences. These include presentations and performances about Southeast Asia. For his part, Professor Macapagal started sending tasting kits to volunteer students, where they would go on-camera and describe the food items to their classmates. Possible opportunities were identified for online learning: widespread acceptance of foreign academics holding online lectures and no longer enduring arduous commute times.
After the presentations came the questions from participants. The question of the relevance of nationalism and knowledge during the pandemic and under the time of dictatorship came up first. For this question, several faculty members gave several insights on how they added subjects such as authoritarianism, revolutionary movements, and inequalities to their syllabus. Contextualization of certain issues into the subject being discussed were also brought up so students can relate and see themselves into the discussion. Answering the question of nationalism, Asst. Prof. Mongaya hoped that the current pandemic would spur the discussion on the importance of the “national question”.
The question of dealing with students who show that they are Marcos apologists, Duterte supporters, misogynists, or homophobic with their submitted outputs were also brought up. Almost all the panel members discussed their own experiences on this question. Even though no one encountered any students who professed such views, most of the panel members said out that some of their students had family members who were Marcos apologists or Duterte supporters. Several best practices were discussed on dealing with this issue, including engaging the students, sharing curated materials, discussing theoretical frameworks, and teaching how to analyze a given information.
The second-to-the-last question is whether the panel members discuss artificial intelligence (AI) on their classes. Asst. Prof. Mongaya said that AI is touched upon in the last part of the PS21 syllabus, which also tackles the present society and technological developments. Finally, there was a question about the most effective way of teaching speech during the remote learning mode. Asst. Prof. Ladia said that it is necessary to teach what is essential, focusing on the content of the speech and critiques of public speeches.
To conclude, Assoc. Prof. Gabriel reiterated how the AH Conversation went: from discussion of how the presenters handled online learning to how presenters discussed the relevance of their course in light of the current situation. Of particular interest is how the faculty were able to hurdle the challenges of teaching during the pandemic, crises, and calamities. The panel members even expressed support for academic ease and shared several steps they have taken to ease the burden of studying under critical times while striving to maintain criticality and quality. The faculty enumerated reducing the number of readings and requirements, lesser number of synchronous meetings in combination with asynchronous sessions, continuous recalibration and adaptation of the course and teaching methods to conscious sensitivity to students’ mental health and family conditions.
Finally, the nationalist and people-oriented framework for GE is reiterated in the context of the growing fascist authoritarianism, right populism, further encroachment of neo-liberalism, as well as old and new foreign interventions. There is a need to always take a critical stand against foreign interventions, inequality, human rights violations, economic oppression and gender discrimination.
Prepared by Assoc. Prof. Nancy Kimuell-Gabriel