Course Syllabus: Socio-Cultural Dimension of National Security

Course Title: Socio-Cultural Dimension of National Security
Course Director: Prof Chester B Cabalza
Duration: 3 Weeks

Copyright © 2012 by Chester B. Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course aims to provide students with in-depth knowledge and rethinking of Philippine society and culture through the use of socio-anthropological perspectives and its implications to national security. The course will give general and holistic survey of the major cultural, social, historical, political, and economic processes in the country through an examination of the rapid cultural changes in Filipino values and character.

Through this course, the students will gather first-hand experience of Philippine culture by doing class exercises through simple ethnographies and museum visits/fieldwork.

The content of the course involves the study of the following subjects:

- Theories and approaches of anthropological perspectives in understanding Philippine culture and society and its implications to national security;

- Understanding pre-history and ethno-history in the Philippines through various archeological, anthropological, historical, literary, and sociological processes;

- To identify explanatory frameworks that could lead to a deeper understanding of the cultural factors affecting Philippine culture and society from pre-colonization, colonization, post-war and post-independence, and the contemporary period;

- To be critical in analyzing anthropological studies on Philippine values system, Filipino family and kinship system, indigenous ethnic communities, and other important cultural beliefs in the country and within the neighboring Asian regions; and

- To enable the students to apply the concepts and ideas on a research problem mutually agreed upon by the student and the professor.


COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon the completion of this Course, a student is expected to have:

 obtained a comprehension of the various frameworks and levels of societal security analysis in Philippine culture and society;

 acquired an appreciation and understanding of the cultural factors influencing the internal and external environment of the country from Spanish, American, and Japanese colonial periods in the Philippines, to post-war and succeeding administrations by Filipino presidents, the contemporary global Filipino diaspora, and influences of neighboring societies (i.e., the Middle East and North Africa, Chinese, Indian, Southeast Asia and Oceanic regions) in the Philippines; and

 gained insights into the social role of culture and the societal security on special topics related to health culture, the sociology of the military, indigenous peoples, world religion and religious syncretism, and Philippine and regional culture and society as a whole.


COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Student will make group projects in class on articles or other documents that form part of the reading list of the course. The number of reports the scholars/students make will depend on the course schedule. The more class reports students make, the more credits are earned.

Each student is required to submit an individual paper of from 15 to 20 pages in length (single space, A4 size, 8.28” x 11.69”). A two to three-page proposal on the term paper is to be submitted to the Course Director. These should contain all the necessary elements such as introduction, rationale, objectives, definition of the problem, framework of analysis and outline.

A draft of paper should be submitted on the proposed deadline to allow for possible revisions. The student is required to make an oral presentation of the paper before the class after which a discussion will be conducted to elicit reactions, comments, and suggestions. The deadline for submission of the individual paper will be announced soon.

The following are the bases for the final grade:

Attendance & Participation - 15%
Group Project - 20%
Individual Paper - 20%
Final Exam - 45%


PROGRAM OF ACTIVITIES: AY 2011-2012 (February 20 – March 9, 2011)

February 20 (Monday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Course Overview: Theories and Concepts on Socio-Cultural Dimension of National Security

PROF CHESTER B CABALZA
Course Director, NDCP

NSA 205 (1:30- 4:30 pm)

Workshop (A Damaged Culture: A New Philippines by James Fallows)

PROF CHESTER B CABALZA
Course Director, NDCP

February 21 (Tuesday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Unraveling Philippine Pre-history and the Discovery of the “Callao Man”

DR ARMAND B MIJARES
Archaeological Studies Program, UP

NSA 205 (1:30-4:30 pm)

Forensic Anthropology and its Implications on the Security Discourse

PROF RICHARD JONATHAN O TADURAN
Dept of Anthropology, UP

February 22 (Wednesday)
NSA 205

ETD NDCP: 8:30 am
ETA NDCP: 2:00 pm

Field Trip: Angono Petroglyphs

PROF CHESTER B CABALZA
Course Director, NDCP

February 23 (Thursday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Philippine History (Colonial Period to Present)

DR MILAGROS C GUERRERO
Professor, History Dept, UP

NSA 205 (1:30- 4:30 pm)

The Filipino Administrative Philosophy in Philippine History

DR ANANDA DEVI D ALMASE
Professor, NDCP

February 24 (Friday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Gender and Development Issues in the Philippines

DR AMARYLLIS T TORRES
Former Dean, CSWD, UP

NSA 205 (1:30- 4:30 pm)

National Security in the Context of Philippine Literature

FRANCISCO SIONIL JOSE
Ramon Magsaysay Awardee/National Artist

February 27 (Monday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

CYBERSECURITY FORUM

How Safe is your Money: Re-thinking Cybersecurity

HON VP JEJOMAR C BINAY, MNSA
SEC CESAR P GARCIA
SEN EDGARDO J ANGARA
REP SIGFRIDO R TINGA
ASEC GERONIMO L SY
MR IVAN JOHNE UY

February 28 (Tuesday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Indian Culture & Society and the South Asia

PROF MARILYN R CANTA
Associate Dean, CAL, UP

NSA 205 (1:30- 4:30 pm)

Middle East and North Africa’s Culture and Society

MR JAVAD HEYDARIAN
International Studies, UP

February 29 (Wednesday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Chinese Culture and Society

DR MARIO I MICLAT
Former Dean, Asian Center, UP
NSA 205 (1:30- 3:00 pm)

Mandarin 101: Basic Chinese Language

PROF ELISEO M MERIN
Associate Professor, NDCP

March 1 (Thursday)
NSA 205

Corregidor Trip

March 2 (Friday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Southeast Asia and Oceania’s Culture and Society

DR NESTOR T CASTRO
Chair, Dept of Anthropology, UP

March 5 (Monday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Special Topics: Health Security and Culture in the Philippines

DEAN MICHAEL L TAN, PhD
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP

March 6 (Tuesday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Special Topics: Indigenous Peoples and National Security

ATTY EUGENIO A INSIGNE, MNSA
Representative, UN Forum on Indigenous Issues

March 7 (Wednesday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Special Topics: World Religion and Religious Syncretism in the Philippines

DEAN CAROLYN I SOBRITCHEA,PhD
Acting Dean, Asian Center, UP

March 8 (Thursday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Special Topics: Global Cultures and the Sociology of the Military

PROF LESLIE A LOPEZ
Lecturer, Dept of Socio-Anthro, ADMU

March 9 (Friday)
NSA 205 (8:30-11:30 am)

Final Examination

PROF CHESTER B CABALZA
Course Director, NDCP

Beijing China

Photographs by Chester B. Cabalza

Copyright © 2012 by Chester B. Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.