Despite its rich history and cultural heritage, Mindanao has gone through decades of strife. Its struggle for peace, its blossoming resurgence, and the diverse patchwork of peoples, plates, and faiths have made it an important piece of the puzzle in understanding Philippine and Southeast Asian identity.
13 December 2018 LONDON—Mindanao will take centre stage in the upcoming 2019 Philippine Studies Conference in London, an annual gathering of academics, policymakers, cultural workers, artists and scientists aimed at igniting meaningful discussions and critically examining relevant Philippine social, political, and cultural issues. The Conference, “Mindanao: Cartographies of History, Identity, and Representation,” is scheduled to take place from 05 to 06 July 2019.
The Conference’s 2019 edition will attempt to map out Mindanao’s complex social, political, and cultural landscape from a multidisciplinary point of view.
Mindanao is one of the Philippines’ major island groups and is home to more than 25 million Filipinos. The dynamic interaction of its significant Muslim, Catholic and Christian, and Indigenous populations and the impact these interactions have on Mindanao’s socio-political, economic, and cultural landscape have made it an important area of research in various fields of study.
“The focus on Mindanao is very timely because Mindanao’s struggle for peace is simultaneously a local, national, and global issue,” said Ambassador Antonio M. Lagdameo. “Unravelling and understanding the complexity of Mindanao’s past and present struggles requires different fields and studies to work together to shed light on various interconnected issues.”
In the Call for Papers and Exhibit Proposals published by SOAS on 09 December, SOAS emphasized that the Conference will take up “the challenge of addressing this complexity and density with a new emphasis on cultural analysis.”
Discussions during the conference will attempt to answer the following questions: “How are the region and its peoples seen in historiographies, political economies and identity politics? How have people from the region in the diaspora sought to construct an understanding of its people’s sense of selfhood and belonging? How have these contributed to an approximation of an evolving Filipino national culture and a South East Asian identity?”
The annual event is spearheaded by SOAS University of London led by Philippine Studies Executive Director Dr. Cristina Martinez-Juan, and supported by the Philippine Embassy. The United Kingdom’s pioneering Philippine Studies programme was made possible through the Philippine Government’s financial grants for the SOAS Philippine Studies Project, which were allocated under the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) budget at the initiative of Senator Loren Legarda, who is also a staunch advocate in the promotion of Philippine arts, culture, and heritage.
Details on the conference can be accessed through the following links:
- https://2019philippinestudiesconference.wordpress.com/?fbclid=IwAR0qATnAicQzNoTnVD7m6qQmv5HYbEhVF8eIZozdUUcAlLfOHYujB1EyhD4
- https://2019philippinestudiesconference.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/2019-mindanao-announcement-final.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1aOI98c9cvvpfZGCTee9KjBTQIuJ4Iqn-SAHDImZZxZnay-txmyfm2_cg
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