Text and photos by Area Studies Program–Department of Social Sciences
The Area Studies Program of the Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) co-organized with the Faculty of Social Science Education of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) the “International Seminar on the Current Trends in Social Studies and Area Studies” in Bandung, Indonesia, on Feb. 6, 2025.
The featured faculty speakers from UPI were Dina Siti Logayah for “Resilience Through Education: Comparing Natural Disaster Literacy between Indonesia and the Philippines,” Muhamad Iqbal for “A Case Study of General Election in the Indigenous Society, Baduy,” and Wildan Insan Fauzi for “From Brain Rot to Brain Growth: Transforming Social Studies Learning Through Neuroscience.”
The student presenters were Piki Pernantah for “Environmental Empathy Based on the Local Wisdom of Indigenous Communities as Social Studies Learning Material”; Ridho Mujahid Islahi for “Bayanihan and Gotong Rotong: Integrating Local Cultures of the Philippines and Indonesia into Character Education Through the Value Certification Technique (VCT)”; and Fantria Yusri Adhitama for “Effectiveness of ArcGIS StoryMaps-based Imaginary Media Regarding Historical Thinking Skills in Social Studies Learning.”
Meanwhile, Assoc. Prof. Wensley Reyes and Assoc. Prof. Emmanuel Jeric Albela for “Teaching Social Studies in the Philippines: Context and Challenges; Asst. Prof. Sharon Caringal for “Trends in Area Studies in the Philippines”; Assoc. Prof. Bernard Leo Karganilla for “WW2: SEA, Indonesia, Manila”; and Asst. Prof. Arthur Navarro for “Indonesians as Kapwa (Shared Self) and Iba (Others) Recent Indonesian Studies in the Vernacular in the Philippines” served as featured faculty speakers from UPM.
The student presenters were Mark Mykel Villano and Carissa Rapsing for “Comparing the Philippines and Indonesia: An Analysis of Two Economies During and After the 2008 Great Recession”; Therese Riego and Nica Marie Trance for “Navigating Peace and Territorial Disputes: Lessons from the Philippines-Indonesia Maritime Border Agreement”; and Christen Jayna Clemente and Josh Micole Virata for “Towards Building an ASEAN Community Through Sports: An Analysis of the Exhibition of Regional Culture and Identity at the SEA Games.”
Prof. Cecep Darmawan, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences Education of UPI, gave the welcome remarks while Asst. Prof. Arthur Navarro, head of the Area Studies Program of UPM, delivered the opening remarks.
The seminar was part of the Academic Collaboration and Cultural Exposure (ACCE) of the Area Studies Program of the Department of Social Sciences in Bandung and Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from Feb. 4-9, 2025. The ACCE included the Bandung Heritage Tour on Feb. 5 and the Yogyakarta Heritage Tour on Feb. 8 for the featured faculty speakers and student presenters.#
