JASON BAGUIA
Good tidings have been brought to the University of the Philippines Cebu, the constituent unit of the national unuversity in the Central Visayas region on the eve of its centenary.
Senior mass communication student Denzel Yorong, along with other Cebu umiversity students has advanced to the regional finals of the search for the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines.
An aspiring filmmaker, Denzel and many of his peers at our mass communication program are on a roll this year.
Early in the first quarter, they won prizes in the Sinulog film festival.
But his and his colleagues’ feats are not only extracurricular.
Denzel and company were also selected to present their undergraduate thesis in two events held as part of the centenary.
The first was Xplore: UP Cebu’s search for answers, an event where students from our four colleges — communication, art, and design; social sciences; science, and management — discussed their scholarly works in the breezy style inspired by the popular TED talks.
Xplore was coordinated by Prof. Belinda Espiritu of the mass communication program. She is the director of UP Cebu’s research arm, the Central Visayas Studies Center, and is the most frequently published author of our college.
The second research conference was Duki-Tuki. The title of the event is Cebuano for investigate (duki), and discuss (tuki).
It was initiated last year by mass communication faculty, particularly Prof. Ma. Theresa Angelina Tabada for mass communication students to share their research in the manner of international research presentations. Students from the political science program also presented their works.
The fine arts program provided cash incentives to the researchers from the proceeds of sales in an art exhibit at our Jose T. Joya Gallery.
On April 25 this year, Denzel and his partners, Georgia Andres and Alyanna Bacarra spoke about their theoretically triangulated analysis of the independent film “Miss Bulalacao.”
Incidentally, the critically acclaimed film stars alumni of the College of Communication, Art, and Design including Russ Raniel Ligtas and Charisse Fonacier (both my good friends).
Duki-Tuki, an event within Tanyag (offering), our celebration of college week would not have been possible without the support of all the faculty and students involved. Apart from Denzel and company’s, 10 other studies were presented by 22 students with concentrations in fine arts, political science, and mass communication.
Prof. Weena Jade Gera and Prof. Januar Yap inspired with their messages encouraging greater cooperation of academics across disciplines and dissemination of undegraduate research in conferences outside UP Cebu.
Teachers enriched the 15-minute presentations with incisive and cogent five-minute reactions..
In the meantime, its portals open to the public with Sentenaryo, an exhibit of 100 artworks at the Joya Gallery in honor of the school’s 100 years.
Tomorrow, UP Cebu Day, the actual centennial, alumni and students will witness in the afternoon the unveiling of a gratitude wall and a memorial to universiy presidents.
We welcome everyone who passed as much as we hope that they look forward to intellectual excellence in this national university.