Press Release
PR No. MJD-20-2021
JEDDAH PCG CAPS OFF PH LITERATURE MONTH, OPENS NATIONAL HERITAGE MONTH CELEBRATION WITH WEBINAR ON PH ARCHIPELAGIC SITUATION
5 May 2021, Jeddah – The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah (Jeddah PCG) held another webinar on 4 May 2021 in double celebration of Filipino Literature Month and National Heritage Month this May.
Prof. Ferdinand M. Lopez, an International Scholar at the Ph.D. Program of the Women and Gender Studies Institute, the University of Toronto, and a former professor for thirty years at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, gave a lecture entitled “KALINANGAN, KAPULUAN, KASAYSAYAN: Ang Katubigan sa mga Panitikan ng Pilipinas,” which probed the various representations of water in Philippine Literatures. Prof. Lopez used the archipelagic approach as a way of teaching and learning from a decolonized Filipino perspective, and illustrated how the islandic unconscious is manifested in Philippine lifeways - beliefs, values, arts, and technologies.
Prof. Ferdinand Lopez (first topmost photo) giving the lecture on images with reference to water as eminent in Philippine texts
The webinar was participated by teachers from the three (3) Philippine international schools in Jeddah, namely, the International Philippine School in Jeddah (IPSJ), Al Dura International School Jeddah (ADIS), and the Durat Al Sharq International School Jeddah (DASIS), and member teachers of the Philippine International School Teachers’ Association (PISTA). Teachers from different institutions in the Philippines, Korea and Canada also attended the webinar.
Jeddah PCG Acting Head of Post Consul Mary Jennifer D. Dingal said that the webinar series organized by the Consulate is a way to introduce other possible approaches in studying and teaching literature by Filipino teachers, especially those in Jeddah and the Western Region of Saudi Arabia to Filipino expatriate students. “With a more culture-based pedagogy, we hope that Filipino students in the Kingdom will have a better understanding of their Filipino heritage and have more ownership of their Filipino identity,” Consul Dingal added.
The webinar, which was moderated by Vice-Consul Alfred Kristoffer Guiang, saw the participation of some seventy (70) literature and communication teachers from both KSA’s Western Region, the Philippines, and around the world. -End-
