A discussion and dialogue with Joan May T. Cordova

1999 marks the centennial anniversary of the start of the Philippine-American war, which tragically cut short the hard-fought independence of the Filipino people from Spanish colonial rule.  Under the guise of "Christianizing" and "civilizing" the Filipino people, the United States sought to force the newly-formed Philippine republic to become America's first overseas colony.  However, the Filipino revolutionary forces, having already sacrificed much to gain their independence, were unwilling to submit to American imperial control.  Thus began the Philippine-American war, a struggle which continued to nurture and consolidate the national pride and identity of the Filipino people, as they fought to preserve the sovereignty of their newly emerged nation.

 In fighting this war of conquest, the United States military command recognized the need to fight the battle on two fronts: military and civilian.  On the military front,  armed conflict would be necessary to crush the Filipino opposition.  On the civilian front, something needed to be done to prevent Filipino civilians from assisting the Filipino soldiers or joining the armed conflict against the Americans.  As one of the tactics, the United States military introduced colonial education into the Philippines, as part of a strategy of pacification, "teaching" the Filipino people about the "benevolent" intentions of foreign American control.  These American educational programs and military-run schools, initially employing military officers as teachers, began to plant the seeds of the "American dream" within the minds of the Filipino people  -- adding new complexities to the problem of Filipino colonial mentality.

 A century later, Filipino American youth today search to discover, or recover, aspects of their Filipino identity and heritage, entangled in the complex legacies of American colonial education in the Philippines: an historical process often overlooked or buried within the Filipino and American past.

Joan May T. Cordova is currently an Assistant Professor of Education at Wheelock College, Boston and has 20 years of teaching experience (Kindergarten through Grad Students).  She is also one of the trustees for the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS).

Sponsored by:  Philippine/Fil-Am Study Group of Boston, FIND (Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue) District One, MIT Filipino Student Association, and Friends of the Filipino People.

DIRECTIONS:

BUS (Easiest)  Take #1 Massachusetts Ave bus to the MIT stop (77 Massachusetts Ave, with the big Ionic columns in front). Enter this building and go down the long corridor straight ahead.  Look for building 3 on your right.  The rooms should be numbered as 3-xxx. Turn right down the corridor to find Room 3-133.

SUBWAY - Take Red Line to MIT/Kendall.  Exit by the MIT Co-op and cross at the cross walk.  Keep the Co-op
on your right side as you walk down the street to the next intersection.  Cross again and turn left.  Walk down Amhearst st. until you reach campus.  Head for the large "infinite corridor" by passing the really tall building on your left hand side (the Green building).  Enter the infinite corridor and follow the signs to building 3, room 133.