TWO NEW academic majors may be added to the 10 courses offered by the Faculty of Arts and Letters within two years.
Artlets Dean Michael Anthony Vasco said the new courses are still in the planning stage, but the Faculty expects to offer the Bachelor of Arts in Filipino major in Translation and Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies major in Peace Studies by 2013 or 2014.
Imelda de Castro, chairwoman of the newly formed Department of Filipino and Artlets faculty member, proposed the establishment of AB Filipino major in Translation.
“[The program] is not only for teachers, but also for practitioners,” said Imelda de Castro, chairman of the Department of Filipino.
She added that translation is one of the most “marketable” jobs because the minimum payment for a translator is usually P1,000 per page.
A translation program was offered in Artlets until the early 1980s but it did not last long.
De Castro said the new AB Filipino program would be different from the defunct AB Translation as the former will have subjects that will “enter the realm of cyberspace and mass media.”
While the University has professors who can teach translation, de Castro said she would hire faculty members from other schools particularly the University of the Philippines and De la Salle University.
“The new translation program also aims to have a Translating Center so that the University could ask for help from our local translators instead of hiring those from other universities,” said de Castro, who is also the assistant secretary of the National Committee on Language and Translation under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Vasco meanwhile said the Peace Studies program would be integrated into development studies, an interdisciplinary social science program which covers public administration, political science, and others to make it more attractive to students.
“We have been offering peace studies subjects in some of our courses. Since we are already offering two to three subjects in the area of peace studies under Asian Studies and Political Science [programs], we might as well put up a new major,” Vasco said.
Vasco also said the Graduate School was also planning to add peace studies as another spin-off track from development studies.
“They will also revise their program in the M.A. and Ph.D. Development Studies to create a special track on Peace Studies,” he said. There is also a plan to put up a Peace Studies Center at the Graduate School where students can have their practicum.
“[With this plan, one] can study development studies and peace studies from the bachelor’s, to the master’s, up to the doctorate level,” Vasco said.
In July last year, Artlets set a five-year development plan which includes the introduction of two new courses, AB English and AB History; the spinoff of the Journalism and Communication Arts programs and the establishment of the Institute of Media Studies; and attaining level III accreditation for some programs from Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation. R. M. C. Rio
bakit di na lang iupgrade and asian studies at political science, gawan ng MA /PHD program ang asian studies for further training and education ng AB-AS grad, para hindi na kailangang lumipat sa UP-Diliman for masters. With a new major, like Dev stud major in peace studies, redundant na since pol sci and asian studies have units about it, instead of a new major, additional units na lang to both majors or combined subjects diba. Imbes na new major, alagaan na lang and further develop both AS and Pol-Sci majors. Ang mangyayare napapagiwanan ung courses e.
I suggest for these three courses to be included for many reasons that embraces the reality. I am a Thomasian. I am proud of it and will always be, however based on my personal observations:
1. AB English-For a reason that I guess it’s time for us to come up with an English program since the other best 3 univ’s in the country ADMU, UP, DLSU have it. Though we have an MA in English, why can’t we have AB?
2. AB History-UST is the oldest univ in Asia and to maintain our venerability, it has to start off now w/ History for it is the first one to established. the older, the more knowledgable. It’s just a shame.
3. AB Creative WritingI guess it’s time UST has to come up w/ it’s long tradition of excellence in creative writing. I surmise that it is different from Literature and Journalism. Just noticed that nobody from UST won the Palancas?