LAST SCHOOL year’s Best Project Thesis in the Communication Arts won Top Paper 2nd Prize in the Ethnicity and Race in Communication Division at the International Communication Association (ICA) Conference held in Singapore last June 22 to 26.

The thesis group was composed of 2010 Communication graduates Rishi Mandhyan, Carmina Reyes, and Joshua Michael Pangilinan. They were advised by Communication Professor Jonathan Ong, who had also beckoned the group to enter their thesis in the conference.

ICA is the largest international academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication.

Expression through photos

Ong said the thesis is about participatory photography with the Dumagat tribe in Antipolo. “We provided them with analog cameras and they are to take pictures of their everyday living there,” said Ong.

“Initially the group wanted to do an educational video but it was too traditional [and] along the way it evolved into something more horizontal,” said Ong.

Pangilinan said they wanted their thesis to be in contrast with the traditional ones. “The traditional research is where researchers go to an area, observe what happens, come back, and report it to the public. What we wanted was to give them their own voice and represent them.”

“Tribes are usually portrayed by the media based on what they see and observe. It is very rare that tribes like them are given the chance to speak for themselves,” added Ong.

Mandhyan said that through their thesis, they discovered that the Dumagats were more than just a minority group waiting for our donations.

“They are, but a group with their own history, perspectives, and abilities just waiting to be shared. This thesis tried to truly listen to them, without biases or preconceived notions. This thesis took the power away from the researcher and gave it fully to the subjects,” said Mandhyan.

Well-received

Pangilinan said they were the only ones who submitted an undergraduate thesis for the ICA. “It was nice to see that our thesis was well-received by the other researchers. We really didn’t know what to expect then because we were the youngest ones to join the conference.”

Ong said he was just thrilled that the research they did was recognized by the international community. “The international scholars were actually stunned by the thesis we presented, knowing that it was an undergraduate thesis… The experience was [overwhelmingly] positive.”

“Some of these researchers and scholars actually wanted to go the Philippines because they were excited to see what other researches and works were being conducted here,” he added.

Experience to remember

Mandhyan shared that meeting scholars from the conference whom they had only quoted in their paper before was a memorable experience. “My star-struck moment came when Dr. Myria Georgiou from London, the head of the Ethnicity and Race Division for ICA, came up to us and congratulated us.”

“This was someone we had spent so much time reading up on, following her work and quoting her in our paper as well. To see her, meet her, and to realize that she herself had read our work had us all speechless,” said Mandhyan.

What’s next?

Pangilinan said tbat the three of them will separate ways. “Mina is in law school, Rish is currently working, and I will be going to [the National University of Singapore] to study [music].”

Mandhyan said he will still continue working with the Dumagats.

“This weekend I was there, and I have started working on creating alternative class programs for the Dumagat youth,” he said. “We’ll start holding art, drama and other classes that they have not been given the opportunity to experience.”

“We were invited to make the thesis into an academic journal, so we’ll see if it will push through. Hopefully it does,” said Ong.