Who I Am

In answer to a post asking me who I am, here is my "official" cv. Unofficially, I am just a man that loves to watch movies, to talk to people, to write, and to eat out, not necessarily in that order. Also in answer to the post, I rarely review movies nowadays (because someone else reviews movies for the newspaper I write for), but I use movies a lot in my lectures and classes.

Former Philippine Undersecretary of Education ISAGANI R. CRUZ is the Director of the Teachers Academy of Far Eastern University in Manila, a Visiting Lecturer at the Ateneo de Manila University, and a Professor Emeritus, a University Fellow, and the Executive Publisher of Academic Publications of De La Salle University Manila. He writes plays, essays, and short stories in Filipino and English, for which he has won numerous awards, including a SEAWRITE award, a Centennial Literary Contest award, and a Gawad Balagtas award. He has been named to the Hall of Fame of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in Literature. He has written or edited more than 30 books. He holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of the Philippines, an M.A. in English from Ateneo de Manila University, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Maryland. He has been a professor or a visiting fellow at Ateneo de Davao University, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of Maryland, Ohio University, Jundi Shapur University (Iran), Soochow University (Taiwan), Waseda University (Japan), and the University of Oxford (UK). He heads the Philippine Fulbright Scholars Association, the Graduate Commission of the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges, and Universities (PAASCU), Books for Philippine Schools Foundation, and the Active E-Learning Technologies Foundation. He was the founding Chair of the Manila Critics Circle and a Senior Bibliographer of the Modern Language Association of America. He has been decorated by the Government of France as a Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite [Knight of the National Order of Merit] and by the Ramain family as Honorary Sultan of Iligan City. He writes weekly columns on books, culture, and education for The Philippine Star and BizNews Asia.

Here is a section of my 26 October 2006 column in The Philippine Star:

Some readers have asked me what I teach nowadays. I have just finished teaching two courses at the Ateneo de Manila University. One was a joint graduate and undergraduate seminar on selected Filipino literary critics, namely, Gemino Abad, Virgilio Almario, Bienvenido Lumbera, Soledad Reyes, and Roland Tolentino. The other was an undergraduate lecture course on selected Filipino films adapted from literary texts, namely, Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa, Bulaklak ng Maynila, Dekada 70, Jose Rizal, Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, Laro sa Baga, Sa North Diversion Road, and Tatarin. Next semester, I will teach another two courses: a lecture course on Philippine literature in English and a workshop on writing for stage, television, and film.

At De La Salle University, where I manage academic publications, I teach a graduate seminar on media criticism, where students get a chance to write papers on series such as Atlantika, Bakekang, Bituing Walang Ningning, Calla Lily, Jass Got Lucky, Majika, Mars Ravelo’s Captain Barbell, Pangako sa Iyo, Sa Piling Mo, and Super Inggo.

I do not teach regular courses at Far Eastern University, where I coordinate training seminars for teachers. On occasions when I do not have a resource person, I handle the seminars myself. I have done sessions on 21st Century Business Communication, Powerful English for Academic Managers, Helping Students to Read, Using Film to Teach Business, Using Excel to Compute Grades, Score Points with Microsoft Powerpoint, First Aid for Teaching Nursing (for Nursing teachers), Body in English (for Physical Education teachers), Reliving the Past (for History teachers), Quantifying Qualitative Assessment (for Fine Arts and Architecture teachers), and Writing Modules.

Shuttling among the three big universities during the week and doing a Foundation for Upgrading the Standard of Education (FUSE) video project for high school teachers of literature on weekends, not to mention speaking to various groups about education, keep me busy after “retirement.” Clearly, the thought of so many of my friends already in heaven makes me realize that I have to do as much as I can on earth before I join them.