Category: UP kasi
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Study abroad, neoliberal education, and lockdown students
I’m putting this together for my students at the University of the Philippines Open University who missed our video conference this term. A friend had suggested I teach at UPOU after returning from my studies abroad. I said yes to one semester, while working for an American newswire and hustling for commissioned international projects. A […]
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Casa de Cutab, Camiguin
If you are in search of a quiet paradise this Summer, check out the white sand beaches in the island of Camiguin, south of the Philippines, and stay at beachfront Casa de Cutab Guesthouse in Sagay. I was surprised when owner Grace Cutab shared about this Casa. In 2012, after we organized a series of anti-violence-against-women […]
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PIOLO: Potah, I Only Live Once
Never had I seen a cancer donation campaign as creative as Rav’s. Rav was my student in a Literature class back in UP. He’s rude, he’s a bitch, but he cares for grammar, so that’s fine. (Really he could be a Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye, one of the novels we read, but […]
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Being one’s own boss
A college friend of mine, Ivan Burcer, may not be working for titan corporations like his fellows in Economics do, but he’s one of the heads of a language school called Elite Institute. We were talking about turning 30 several weeks ago in their office in front of GMA Network in Quezon City, and he […]
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Heroes’ Day
The quick facts, simply told: well-connected Janet Lim Napoles has been at the center of a pork barrel scam involving our billion-peso taxes that we pay either thru salary deduction or VAT in things we buy; she’s said to be in cahoots with congressmen and senators who actually get more in every transaction; Napoles’ daughter […]
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The so many questions after her death
There have always been those who have filled their bellies because they had no sense of shame, but we, who have nothing, apart from this last shred of undeserved dignity, let us at least show that we are still capable of fighting for what is rightfully ours. -Saramago’s Blindness The University of the Philippines freshman student […]
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Raising funds (photos)
September and October have been busy months because aside from work, there’s the fund raising activities for Given Grace, the 19-year old Computer Science student slain and raped in UPLB exactly last year. Since justice delayed is justice denied, the Task Force Given Grace organized a benefit gig in business district Makati, a bike ride […]
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goodbye eng 2 students
I teach College Writing in English and here is my farewell letter to my students (Part 1) Dear friends, You gave me a hard time reading your papers, do you know that? I would sometimes
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march is a month of farewells
You know how March feels like the last month of the year because for the longest time when you were still in school, this is the season when everyone’s finalizing paper works and grades and damn practical arts projects. This is also the exciting month when, finally, you no longer have to endure some people […]
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stupid love
Our former colleague from the Division of English, Department of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences in UPLB, Prof. Ruperta “Perting” Asuncion passed away. Cancer took her away, but memories of her impossible dedication to teaching and mentoring will not go forgotten. Teaching is a thankless job,
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What is Comparative Literature?
Dr. J.B. Schriever, the Europe-educated and European-looking professor who can speak French, German, Spanish, English, Filipino, and Batangas Tagalog (&c.) interchangeably, says it’s a methodology. the comparatists in the painful making That affirms Damrosch’s claim that Comparative Literature is a mode of reading. So it’s not really an area of studies but a system of […]
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missing randy david's class
the professor posing for aiscracker in his office at the Faculty Center, UP Diliman This is one semester I will not forget because of the professor above. The way he engages the Socio 275 class into critical thinking will leave an indelible mark in my memory and perhaps in my teaching. Definitely my
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a happy site by a comarts alumnus who's now with a gaming company
stolen from thesalmonellawars Jay Gavarra is a humorist, a genius, a reader, a songwriter (haha), a ComArts graduate, a professional gamer (PS3, PSP, Wii, etc), sarcasm personified,
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Life after UP
Last Wednesday I assigned something “disturbing” to my English classes. It was a 1996 article about a UP graduate (BS Agriculture Major in Plant Pathology to be specific), who ended as a maid in Hongkong after her short stint as a young scientist (since P4000 per month would not be sufficient for her, let alone […]
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nostalgic at the uplb main library
Pegaraw, that magical winged carabao, guards the University of the Philippines Los Baños Main Library and whatever majesty left of that building. What makes this library so special aside from its rich repository of agricultural resources?
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elbi students
Here’s a toast and roast to UP students in Los Baños (the ones I’ve handled, at least) who are worth the stay for about four years now in the University of the Philippines: 1. Elbi students’ fashion sense is extreme. In one room, you could see the typical maong and shirt/blouse, as well as shorts […]
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what happens when you gatecrash into some people’s Christmas party
Week before Christmas, my boyfriend invited me to their company Christmas party. Like any decent, self-respecting person, I refused. I said I’m cool all by myself that night. He insisted, said that since their group is too small, they’d be joining an umbrella organization in their Christmas Party at some hotel in Malate, Manila. I […]
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