FOR HER contributions in the field of peace and political psychology, Psychology Professor Cristina Montiel was conferred the Ralph K. White Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Psychological Association (APA), Division of Peace Psychology.
According to the APA website, the award is given to “an individual whose theoretical and applied research in peace studies, including topics such as cooperation, social justice, war and aggression or conflict resolution, has inspired yet another generation of psychologists around the world.”
“Perhaps this is because of my work with the next-generation of psychologists not only here in Ateneo, but also in other Asian countries like Indonesia and Malaysia,” she said.
Montiel holds a Ph.D in Social Psychology from the Ateneo and is known for spearheading peace activism and scholarship in the country.
“During martial law, I was a political activist with KASAPI (a social democratic movement) and also [with] PDP-LABAN [Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas-Bayan].”
She was also the chair of Lingap Bilanggo (Care for Prisoners), a movement for the general amnesty of all Filipino political prisoners.
Montiel is set to give a speech at the APA convention in Washington, DC on August 2011.
Beginnings of non-violence
Montiel shares that her participation in peace activism during the Martial law era shaped her views and interests in her field.
“I went through very difficult times on a personal level. I even had an intelligence agent from the NBI sit-in in my social psychology class at the Ateneo,” recounted Montiel.
Despite these experiences, Montiel said that she is grateful to the Ateneo for “nurturing [her] and for walking with [her] for more than 30 years.”
Montiel has taught subjects like Social Psychology, Research Methods and Mixed Qualitative-Quantitative Methods, among others.
Aside from teaching, Montiel is currently the Managing Editor of the Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology and a member of the editorial board of the Peace Psychology Book Series.
Award not the end
Montiel said she was in her office at the Centre for Dialogue in La Trobe University in Melbourne when she received the news about the award.
“I said ‘Oh my God!’. Then I cried then I did a dance around my chair,” she said.
However, Montiel said having won this award is not the end for her. “I plan to continue doing what I have been doing—pursuing my heart’s desire, mentoring the next generation, and doing research or writing on social peace-building, the Asian way.
“Next semester, I will teach peace psychology to a senior psychology class in Ateneo,” added Montiel.
Psych dept’s “National Treasure”
Psychology Chair Lota Teh, said that as one of the senior faculty members of the department, Montiel has been a good research mentor to a number of their junior faculty and graduate students.
“Her passion for research is evident in the number and quality of her local and international publications,” said Teh.
Edna Franco, Vice President for Administration and Planning and the former Psychology Chair, considers Montiel the Psychology Department’s national treasure.“It is really hard to match her caliber,” said Franco.
Franco added that aside from the mark she made in Ateneo, she also left a huge mark in the country. “She has contributed a lot in helping in peace initiatives towards the Mindanao conflict,” she said. “She is an authority that is consulted by other countries in matters of peace.”
