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| University of the Philippines Baguio | Governor Pack Road, 2600 Baguio City, Philippines | |||
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The Cordillera Studies Center had its beginning as the research component of the Development
Studies Program of the then Division of Social Sciences. The M.A. Social and Development Studies
was the Program's curricular component.
Among the key concepts underlying the operations of the Center were: A multi-disciplinary perspective that will guide the research agenda; The close linkage with local communities to provide the critical anchor that will enable the Center to tackle social issues confronting the Region, and; A vision of social science practice relevant to the process of social transformation. On June 26, 1980 the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines, in its 928th meeting, established the Cordillera Studies Center "as the research and extension arm of the Division of Social Sciences." During this period the Center, as an interdisciplinary research institution, focused on the development issues in the uplands relying mainly on the members of the Division of Social Sciences for its research personnel. Faculty from the Divisions of Natural Sciences, Humanities, SPEAR (Sports, Physical Education and Recreation), Management Sciences, and (the then) UPCB High School, were likewise tapped for specific researches. In its first ten years, the Center primarily drew financial support from the Ford Foundation through three grants on Agroecosystems research: 1981-83, 1984-87 and 1987-1990. Through these grants, the Center established a strong link with the Southeast Asian Universities Agroecosystems Network (SUAN) being one of the Network's founding members. In 1988, grant funds from the Asia Foundation augmented the Ford research funds for a project on "Issues on Cordillera Autonomy." This project gave birth to a continuing research theme on Governance and Public Policy. A grant from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for a Land Tenure Study followed. Then two grants from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Region 1 for Population, Resources and Environment (Phase I and Phase II) initiated the research program on Environment and Resources. In 1990, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FA0) supported the research project entitled "Ibaloy Customary Law." By the second decade, the Center embarked on a research program on Natural Resource Management with funds provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. These are Natural Resource Management Program (or NRMP) 1, 1992-1994, and NRMP 2, 1997-2001. Alongside these larger programs, smaller research studies were conducted on economic, political and social institutions of local communities, indigenous knowledge and world views, local history, health, women and gender issues. Even while the Center undertook funded research on social science issues in upland development, individual faculty interests on research on the Cordillera flourished, in particular, among faculty researchers from the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division. Research on the Cordillera at UP Baguio obtained a boost in 1995. The Cordillera Studies Program (CSP), with funding support from the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UPCIDS), was established. During the CSP's first two years, research was undertaken under three components: Environmental Studies, Cultural Studies and Development Studies. The experience of UP Baguio with the conduct of the Cordillera Studies Program contributed to a clear recognition of a need for a College-level structure to direct and coordinate inter-college research programs. This College-level mechanism would give full attention to strengthening the research and publications program of the five academic divisions of the College. In recognition of the notable performance of the Center, it was deemed appropriate to recommend that the CSC be transformed into the College Research Center. Hence, on March 18, 1997, the College Assembly unanimously endorsed this proposal. The Center began operating as the College Research Center in June 1998. To mark this significant change, the Center launched the Research Dialogue Series in AY 1998-1999 with eight monthly sessions. This was followed in AY 1999-2000 by seven round table discussions on the following themes: Local History and Institutions; Governance and Public Policy; Indigenous Knowledge, Philosophy and World Views; Environment and Resources-Social Science Issues; Living Traditions-Art, Language, Literature and Communication and Women and Gender Studies. In 2004, the Cordillera Studies Center (CSC) has been reorganized as the university research center of UP Baguio (UPB). The researches were organized according to the following thrusts: (1) Biodiversity Conservation; (2) Ethnicity Studies; (3) Governance and Public Policy; and (4) Local Language and Literature. Teams of faculty members committed themselves to engage in activities aimed at conceptualizing research projects. The CSC research fellowship was initiated to encourage more faculty members to do research. The CSC continued to provide assistance to the efforts of the research work groups and to pursue opportunities for institutional linkages and publication exchange. The Center also sponsored seminars, symposia, trainings, and workshops. The CSC Library has been integrated into the UPB Main Library. |
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Last Updated (September 11, 2008) 
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