University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters

University of Santo Tomas
Faculty of Arts and Letters


Patron saint Saint Thomas More
Established 1896
Former names
1896 - Faculty of Philosophy and Letters
1926 - College of Liberal Arts
1964 - Faculty of Arts and Letters (Absorption of the Liberal Arts degrees from the College of Liberal Arts)
Dean Prof. Michael Anthony C. Vasco, PhD
Regent Rev. Fr. Joseto N. Bernadas Jr., OP, SThL-MA
Students 3,982[1]
Location St. Raymund de Peñafort Building, Quezon Drive, UST, Sampaloc, Manila
Colors      Navy blue

The University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters, popularly known as "UST Artlets" or "UST AB", is the liberal arts college of the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest and the largest Catholic university in Manila, Philippines.[2]

Established in 1896 as the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, the faculty is one of the first liberal arts school in the Philippines. It offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in different areas of Media Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities. It is proclaimed to be a Center of Excellence in Literature, Philosophy, Economics and Legal Management by the Commission on Higher Education.

Contents

History

The University of Santo Tomas started offering courses in liberal arts and philosophy since its foundation in 1611. These courses were later institutionalized with the establishment of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in 1896. A College of Liberal Arts was also established in 1926. The two colleges were merged and given the name Faculty of Arts and Letters in 1964.[3]

At first, the Faculty offered only three programs--Bachelor of Arts (A.B.), Bachelor of Literature (Litt. B.), and Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph. B.). In the course of time, new courses and majors gradually developed.

In 1971, the Faculty started offering Bachelor of Arts degree programs in Asian Studies, Behavioral Science (originally Liberal Arts-Commerce), Communication Arts, Economics, Journalism, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, and Translation. The A.B. major in Translation was eventually phased out due to lack of enrollment and funding.[3]

In 1994, the Faculty started offering a major in Legal Management, an interdisciplinary degree program in business management and law designed to suit the needs of students intending to go to law school after graduation but would like to have other career prospects as a fall-back option.[3]

In 2005, the Faculty teamed up with the UST College of Education to offer a double degree-- Bachelor of Arts-Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Social Sciences/Studies (AB-BSE).[3] The program was discontinued in 2007 because of government regulations that would stretch the time to complete the AB-BSE degree to at least 5 years and 4 summers.

In June 2011, the Faculty started offering A.B. History and A.B. English Language Studies.

Student population

The college has approximately 4,000 students, unevenly distributed among twelve different disciplines.[4]

It offers the third highest number of academic programs in the university, with 12 academic degree programs, next only to the UST Graduate School and the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music.[4]

In recent years, it has been yielding one of the largest number of graduates (approx.750) next only to the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Engineering and UST College of Commerce and Business Administration and University of Santo Tomas Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy (approx. 800-900 each).[4]

Academic programs

The Faculty currently offers the following four-year academic degree programs. Each academic major has a local student council which is more often referred to as "societies".

Academic Program Society Description
Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies Asian Studies Society (ASSoc) interdisciplinary program in Asian history, philosophy, literatures, religions, geography, politics, demography, economies, area studies, cultures, and foreign service.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Science Behavioral Science Society (BESSoc) interdisciplinary program in psychology, human resource management, and organizational behavior.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts Communication Arts Students' Association (CASA) interdisciplinary program in communications, broadcasting, advertising, public relations, and multimedia studies (film, television, radio, digital technology).[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Economics Artlets Economic Society (AES) intensive program in economic theory, research, analysis, and practice.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in English Language Studies intensive program in the science and art of the English language with emphasis on morphology, syntax, grammar, pragmatics, World Englishes, English as a second language, applied linguistics and English for specific purposes.
Bachelor of Arts in History intensive program on Philippine, Southeast Asian, East Asian, European and World History. It also gives emphasis on Philippine historiography and the philosophy of history.
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism UST Journalism Society (JournSoc) intensive program in journalism, including business reporting, feature writing, newspaper production, and investigative journalism.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Legal Management Legal Management Society (LMSoc) interdisciplinary program in business management, public policy, and legal analysis.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Literature UST Literary Society (LitSoc) intensive program in literary theory and creative writing.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy Concilium Philosophiae (Concilium) intensive program in philosophical inquiry, research, and investigation.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science The Political Science Forum (TPSF) interdisciplinary program in public administration, history, geography, international relations, and diplomacy.[3]
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology UST Sociological Society (USTSS) intensive program in sociological theory, research, community development and immersion.[3]

The Bachelor of Arts programs in Literature, Philosophy, Economics and Legal Management are proclaimed Centers of Excellence by the Philippine Commission on Higher Education.[5]

The most popular programs, based on the number of enrollees in recent years, are Communication Arts, Journalism, Legal Management, Political Science, and Behavioral Science.[4]

Facilities

The college is located in the first and second levels of Saint Raymund de Peñafort Building in the northeastern part of the UST campus, near Dapitan St. (back of UST). The college shares the building with the UST College of Commerce and Business Administration which occupies the third and fourth levels.[6]

The college had a medium-sized auditorium (Jose Rizal Conference Hall) but was transformed into three expandable multimedia rooms, several audio-visual conference rooms, a fully wired computer laboratory, a student activity center, a faculty hall, fully air-conditioned classrooms, free wi-fi access, and photocopying machines.[7]

Research centers

The college houses the following research institutes:

UST Benavides Library

Among its many departments, the UST Miguel de Benavidez Library has nine departments which suit the academic requirements of the college:[8]

The library also has conference rooms readily available and free-of-charge to students and faculty upon prior reservation.[9]

Faculty officials

Faculty administrators

Faculty council

University Department chairs

AB Department chairs

Department coordinators

Degree program coordinators

Other department coordinators

Student organizations

The college is home to various student organizations.[10]

Student regulatory bodies:[10]

Student publications:[10]

Student academic organizations:[10]

Special interest groups:[10]

Student political parties:[10]

Prominent alumni

Some of the college's notable alumni (graduates and former students), in alphabetical order:[11]

Academe

Business

Film and television arts

Government and diplomatic affairs

History and historical figures

Law practice

Literature

Media and broadcasting

Publishing

Society, fashion, and culture

Socio-civic affairs and public advocacy

See also

References

  1. ^ Too many students, so few classrooms. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  2. ^ Ambeth Ocampo, Director, National Historical Institute, 2006.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Official prospectus, UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c d Enrollment records, UST Office of the University Registrar, 2001-2006.
  5. ^ List of Centers of Excellence, Commission on Higher Education, Republic of the Philippines, 2007.
  6. ^ Official map, University of Santo Tomas, 2006.
  7. ^ a b c Facilities, UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, 2006.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Division map, UST Central Library, 2006.
  9. ^ Library services, UST Central Library, 2006.
  10. ^ a b c d e f List of student organizations, UST Artlets Student Council, 2008.
  11. ^ List of members, UST Artlets Alumni Association, 2008.