Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Class Imagination in the Philippines: The Middle Class Between Narrative and Reality | Public Lecture

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Category: News @ UP Asian Center

The Asian Center will be hosting a public lecture, Class Imagination in the Philippines: The Middle Class Between Narrative and Reality, on Wednesday, 22 October 2014, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m, at the Hall of Wisdom, Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman.

In this lecture, Niklas Reese will examine the “middle class” in a Philippine context, a notion usually confined to equating it with purchasing power. Despite such very rudimentary definition, it is a widely used concept in empirical and normative discussions. Reese will introduce a more refined way of grasping the Philippine middle class, one that takes into account socioeconomic realities and cultural imaginations and identifies at least four different sub-classes within the middle stratum. Furthermore, Reese will explore the Philippine middle class in light of Filipino migration, and tease out the relevance of that class as a potential political actor.

Niklas Reese is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Bonn and a lecturer at the University of Passau. He will soon take up an appointment as lecturer at the School of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of the Philippines Diliman. The lecture will be delivered as part of Dr. MCM Santamaria’s PS (Philippine Studies) 219 class, which tackles “current issues and problems concerning Philippine society and culture.” 

Seats are very limited, and are available only on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please contact Janus at 981.8500 local 3586 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Apart from PS 219, Professor Santamaria has also handled other graduate-level courses on Japanese politics, governance, culture, and society; and Southeast Asian culture, including theater. Recognized last year as UP Artist II, he is currently the artistic director of Bunga Arts Link, a group that performs Southern Philippine dances.The Asian Center offers MA degrees in Asian and in Philippine Studies.

The Asian Studies program offers specializations in Northeast Asian Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, South Asian Studies, or West Asian Studies. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allow students to specialize on Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center also offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. Like the Asian Center on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @upasiancenter.