Council asked: Support CNU Cultural Studies programs

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon has requested the City Council’s Committee on Education to recognize, recommend, and support the offering of the Cultural Studies Verticalized Degree Programs by the Cebu Normal University (CNU) beginning first semester of 2022-2023.

This, so that the money invested in it will never go to waste and for the preservation of the Filipino heritage in general and the Cebuano culture in particular.

Dizon sponsored a resolution regarding the matter, which was referred by the council to the Committee on Education for review before recommending support for the program.

“When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world and the country, the implementation of this Cultural Studies Verticalized Degree Programs was halted and now the new CNU Management is requesting from the Cebu City government for the confirmation, adoption, and recommendation of these new curricula to be offered by the University beginning of this year,” said Dizon.

The councilor said CNU was one of the recipients of the Institutional Development and Innovation Grants (DIG) in 2017-2019.

The grant was awarded to higher education institutions (HEls) to fund initiatives that strengthen their qualifications and capacity to respond and remain relevant to local, regional, national, and global priorities.

One of the deliverables of the project was the crafting of the curriculum for Cultural Studies programs both in the Undergraduate and the Graduate Studies in order enhance the cultural identity of Cebu and the rest of the country.

The curriculum for Cultural Studies includes: Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies-Majors in Museology/Creative Pedagogies; Master of Arts in Cultural Studies-Majors in Museology/Creative Pedagogies, and Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Studies-Majors in Museology/Creative Pedagogies.

Dizon said these curricula were already approved by the members of the university’s academic council last December 11, 2018, duly endorsed by the members of the Board of Regents, as the highest governing board of the university, in 2019, and through President’s Memorandum Ref. No. 1902-51 dated 18 February 2019 copy furnished to the Offices of the Vice-President for Academic Affairs and the Office of the Director, Institute for Research in Innovative Instructional Delivery (IRID).

Dizon said CNU has the academic freedom to offer relevant degree programs for the enhancement of the quality of life of the Filipinos and likewise is vested to execute that moral responsibility of conserving, promoting, and popularizing the nation’s historical and cultural heritage and resources, as well as artistic creations. — LPM (FREEMAN)