August was a busy month for the Center for West Visayan Studies (CWVS) of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) due to its various engagements and activities.
The Center, in partnership with the Division of Social Sciences, organized a lecture titled "Tropical Gothic as Ethnography in the Contemporary Western Visayas: Weaving Stories of Mari-it, Heritage, and Community Efforts Towards Sustainable Futures" with Dr. Christina Sornito Carter as the resource person last August 5, at the UPV Main Building. Carter is a visiting professor at the Division of Social Sciences and the CWVS. She is connected with the Department of Anthropology at Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA, as an assistant professor and co-director of the Appalachian State Ethnography Laboratory.
From August 10-12, CWVS University Research Associates Darlene Joy Calsado and Sashah Dioso presented their papers at the 10th National Research Conference on Gender and Fisheries with the theme "Overcoming Pandemic and Disasters: Resiliency Stories in Fisheries." Calsado's paper was entitled, "Building economic resilience through financial literacy among women fishers in small-island communities," while Dioso's research was "Manugbulong kag ang Pandemya: Women folk healers in fishing communities in Pandan, Antique amid COVID-19 pandemic."
The Center has also provided technical assistance through its various engagements with government and non-government agencies. Calsado was tapped by Child Initiative (Community's Hope and Initiative for Lasting Development, Inc.) as their Resource Person for the training entitled "Strengthening the knowledge and capacity of partner LGUs on DRR-CCA policies (RA10121, RA10821, RA9729, etc.)" that was conducted last August 25-26, 2022 at Park Inn Hotel, Iloilo City. Dioso, on the other hand, gave a lecture on the topic, "Indigenous Peoples and Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practice," organized by the DepEd Division of Antique last August 27, 2022, at Lauaan, Antique.
With its goal to actively involve and support student initiatives, the Center partnered with various student organizations and academic programs. Dioso gave a presentation on "Patnog, Pukaw, kag Pabulag sa Kalag: Revisiting Soul-Calling Rituals in Kinaray-a Villages" organized by History 195 (Practicum in History) class of Mr. Rad Sumagaysay and the National Museum of the Philippines - Western Visayas held last August 10 via zoom. The CWVS also recognized student interns from the Division of Humanities who helped in the indexing of seminal works of Panay Literary Greats. Furthermore, the Center also co-sponsored the "Balud Wave-inar 5: History Lecture Series" of the UPV Kamagtas during the celebration of History Month last August 31. The webinar featured three notable Filipino historians: Dr. Michael Pante, Dr. Francis Gealogo, and Dr. Ariel Lopez.
Finally, the Center welcomed its new Director, Prof. Frances Anthea Redison, who started her three-year term last August 16.
