Centering on Women’s Knowledge, Experiences, and Narrative

Women's studies programs in the Philippines emerged in the 1980s to center women's knowledge, experiences, and stories in response to systemic misrepresentation and absence in history and knowledge production. Some pioneering institutions and programs include:

Center for Gender and Development Studies, 1981,

Silliman University

Development Institute for Women in Asia-Pacific (DIWA), 1981,

Philippine Women’s University

Women’s Studies Consortium (now Women’s and Gender

Studies Association of the Philippines – WSAP), 1987

Institute of Women’s Studies, 1988, St. Scholastica’s College

Center for Women’s Studies (now UP Center for Women’s and Gender Studies – UPCWGS), 1988, University of the Philippines Diliman

Women and Gender Institute (WAGI), 1997, Miriam College

Various universities and colleges now offer certificate programs and courses in women’s and gender studies. 

References

• Alvarez, M.H.U. (2009). Part of the Conversation: Women’s Studies in Higher Education. Silliman Journal, 50(1), 155-166.

• Sobritchea, C.I. (2004). The Philippines. In Women’s/Gender Studies in Asia Pacific (pp. 100-126). UNESCO.