ADZU to host Subanon workshop

The Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU), in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), will host the First National Conference on the History and Culture of the Subanon to be held on Feb. 18 to 19 at the Carlos Dominguez Conference Hall, LRC Building ADZU Campus.

Expected participants numbering over 200, are educators, high school and college teachers from various parts of the country. At least 50 Subanon and a number of researchers on Western Mindanao culture and history.

The Conference’s main presentors are Dr. Felice Noelle Rodriguez (Ateneo de Manila University), Dr. Guadiosa Ochoterena (St. Vincent’s College Graduate School), Jane Hapalla (Zamboanga City), Rosanna Bilbao (NCIP Region IX), Dr. Vicente Imbing (Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur), Dr. Raquel Georsua (University of Melbourne) and Prof. Rudy Rodil (MSU-IIT). Their papers touch upon of Subanon oral literature, music, oral history, and rituals; they will also touch upon the Subanon in the nineteenth century and their current situation and struggles. These papers will be published in the May 2002 issue of Culture and Peace Studies: The ADZU Journal of Peace and Culture. The Conference also features a special program of live presentations of dances and chants by the Ginghurang Bae Subanen Fokloric Troupe (of Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur) and the Mandih Cultural Troupe (of Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte).

Taking the lead in organizing this conference is the ADZU’s Institute of Cultural Studies for Western Mindanao. The organizing team includes key personnel from the Ateneo Peace Institute, the Projects Office, the English Department, the Mass Communications Department, and the Social Sciences Department of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), the High School Department and the Zamboanga City branch of the National Museum. The Conference is being funded by the ADZU, with generous financial assistance from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Philippine Long Distance and Telephone Company, the provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur and the municipal government of Margosatubig, Zamboanga del Sur.

For details, please contact Trish Drapiza-Manulong or Christian Palma at the Ateneo de Zamboanga Institute of Cultural Studies for Western Mindanao (ICSWM), at telephone numbers (062) 991-0871 to 76 local 4200 (e-mail addresses: [email protected] and [email protected], respectively). For those who wish to provide financial assistance or donate printed materials and cultural artifacts, please contact Fr. David John de los Reyes, S.J. (e-mail: [email protected]), telefax (062) 991-0870.