Dr. Yeh (5th from left) and Dr. Tandoc (6th from left) with the College
administrators and the panel of reactors

The UST College of Education Hosts First Environmental Education Forum
S. Co, E. Deluyas, R. Encina

   On the 19th of April, 2017, the University of Santo Tomas, College of Education held the 31st Fr. Antonio Gonzalez, O.P. Memorial Lecture at the Medicine Auditorium.

   The event, which was one of the highlights of the College of Education’s 91st foundation anniversary celebrations aimed to spark a discussion about the roles of education and social media in spreading awareness about environmental issues which we are currently faced with.

   The event was graced by the presence of pertinent figures in the areas of environmental education and technology. The first speaker who led the discussion was Prof. Shing-Cheng Yeh, Ph.D., Director of the Graduate Institute of Environmental Education of the National Taiwan University, one of the only graduate institutions in the world dedicated to environmental education. He shared how Taiwan puts a premium on education to foster environmental awareness and involvement. The second speaker was Asst. Prof. Edson C. Tandoc, Jr., Ph.D., who is a faculty member of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information of the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. His researches focus on the sociology of message construction and news dissemination through social media. Tandoc emphasized the power of social media to disseminate information and advance advocacies on environmental conservation and preservation.

   As these speakers shared their insights and experiences on their field of expertise, the audience were also given the opportunity to extend queries and questions, allowing them to deepen their understanding about addressing environmental issues through education and communication. The members of the panel of reactors who shared their insights and opinions were Assoc. Prof. Rey Donne S. Papa. Ph. D., Mr. Philippe Jose S. Hernandez and Assoc. Prof. Cecilia L. Bahrami-Hessari.

   The Fr. Antonio Gonzalez, O.P. Memorial Lecture has become a capstone in the annual celebration for the College of Education’s founding. It was first enacted to pay tribute to the 9th dean of the college, who was a Dominican scholar and educator. Since then, it has become a platform wherein scholarly discussions tackling timely issues surrounding education is talked about amongst incoming, current, and former members of the academe.