UNamur, UPPI brief PH Ambassador on progress of the Philippine Studies Program
Academic representatives from the University of Namur (UNamur) and the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) paid a courtesy visit to the Philippine Ambassador to Belgium Jaime Victor Ledda at the Philippine Embassy to discuss the progress and future direction of the Philippine Studies Program.
The discussion highlighted the past successes of the Program, current academic initiatives between the UNamur and UPPI, and potential dissemination events in the next year to bolster the visibility of the program in Belgium and the Philippines.
Representing UNamur were Professor Sabine Henry, the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Dr. Sebastien Dujardin, a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Geography, and Anna Amalia Vibar. Prof. Henry co-leads the Philippine Studies Program at UNamur, and co-supervised, along with Dr. Dujardin, a research exchange between UNamur and UPPI as part of the Program’s activities in 2023. Also present was Anna Amalia Vibar, current PhD researcher at UNamur and a former beneficiary of the Philippine Studies Program.
The UPPI delegation was led by Professor Grace Cruz, who was previously hosted by UNamur as part of the academic exchange and among the faculty representing the UPPI at the Philippine Studies Conference at UNamur in 2023. UPPI graduate student Leila Marie Magno was also present as a representative of the current student exchange between UPPI and UNamur.
The Philippine Studies Program is an initiative by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), in partnership with the Office of Senator Loren Legarda (OSL), to establish academic, research, and cultural exchange between the Philippines and institutions abroad.
Since the program’s inception in 2017, it has grown to encompass different institutions across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and expanded into various research areas. Earlier this year, the DFA and the OSL launched a book celebrating its past initiatives.
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