From Ifugao Art to Area Studies: The Writings of Professor Aurora Roxas-Lim

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

Professor Aurora Roxas-Lim (1935-2020), former dean of the Asian Center, was a scholar in the field of literature, art history and area studies. Her writing career spanned of six decades and produced numerous articles on Southeast Asian art, history, culture, religion, and maritime societies.

The following articles are some of her contributions to the Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia (ASJ), as well as to other organizations. ASJ is a publication of the Asian Center where she served as Dean from 1994-1997.

- Buddhism in Early Southeast Asia (1973)
- Art in Ifugao Society (1973)
- Rethinking Area Studies (1997)
- The Ideas of Gregorio Sancianco: A Blueprint for Economic Development in the 19th-Century Philippines (1998)
- Apolinario Mabini and the Establishment of the National Church (1999)
- Cultural Exchanges between the Muslim and Christian Worlds: Focus on the Philippines (2002)
- Historical and Cultural Significance of Admiral Zheng He’s Ocean Voyages (2003)
- SPAFA, a Vehicle for Regional Cultural Cooperation: a Review of Its Achievements (n.d., coauthored with Djasponi) | SPAFA
- Traditional Boatbuilding and Philippine Maritime Culture (n.d) | UNESCO
- China’s Economic Development Assistance to the Philippines: A Preliminary Assessment (2013)
- Marine-Oriented Sama-Bajao People and Their Search for Human Rights (2017)

Professor Roxas-Lim was Curator of the U.P. Vargas Museum from 1988 to 1994, and Deputy Director of the Special Project in Archeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA) of the Southeast Asia Ministries of Education (SEAMEO) from 1985 to 1986. She later served as Dean of the UP Asian Center from 1994 to 1997, and retired from the University of the Philippines by 2000. View full tribute.

The UP Asian Center offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. The Center 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. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. The Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website. For other news and upcoming events at the Asian Center, click here.