Embracing the Currents: An International Conference on the Sulu Archipelago
UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS) invites everyone to attend, “Embracing the Currents: An International Conference on the Sulu Archipelago” on 12–14 November 2024, Mindanao State University – Tawi-Tawi College of Technology and Oceanography (MSU-TCTO), Bongao, Tawi-Tawi. To sign up, please visit the Conference Page on the website of UP CIDS.
About the Conference
As the evolving narrative of the Filipino nation assumes its contemporary shape with the Bangsamoro experiment, the Sulu Archipelago emerges as a zone of deep and diverse possibilities. The historical evolution of the Philippine state within a dynamic Southeast Asian region invites scholars’ attention not only to the various forces that have shaped, and continue to shape, the Sulu Archipelago but also to the historical and contemporary roles that this constellation of islands, communities, trade networks, and ecologies plays in the regional stage and beyond.
What intricacies define the relationship of the Sulu Archipelago with the Filipino nation-state and its neighbors in Maritime Southeast Asia? In what ways has the Sulu Archipelago complicated the dynamics of state-building in the region? What cultural, ecological, and socio-economic currents flow through this maritime border zone today, and with what consequences? How can scholars critically engage existing knowledges about the archipelago in order to shape its immediate future?
This transdisciplinary international conference brings together a diverse group of scholars to engage with these questions, and with a view to opening new pathways for scholarship.
Keynote Address
Sulu and Its Place in the History of Early and Early Modern Southeast Asia
Dr. Leonard Y. Andaya
Professor of Southeast Asian History, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Plenary Panel 1: Opium, Cigarettes , and Fisheries: Commodities and Governance in Sulu
The Opium and the Egg
Jilene Chua
Boston University
Blue Seals and the Sulu World
Patricio Abinales Jr.
University of Hawaiʿi at Manoa
Networked and Nested Governance in the Philippines’ Southern Maritime Frontier
Rosalie Arcala Hall
Center for Integrative and Development Studies
Plenary Panel 2: Sulu and Seaweed: Gender, Conservation and Livelihood
Currents of Change: Revitalizing the Seaweed Industry Through Wild Eucheumatoid Populations and Traditional Knowledge in the Sulu Archipelago
Sitti Zayda B. Halun
Mindanao State University Tawi-Tawi
Aquaculture in the Sulu Archipelago: Current Trends and its Potential Diversification for Sustainable Development
Victor Marco Emmanuel N. Ferriols
University of the Philippines Visayas
Nurturing Local Champions: Collaborative Strategies for Protecting Marine Ecosystems and Livelihoods in the Sulu Archipelago
Richard Mualil
Mindanao State University Tawi-Tawi
A New Place for Women in the Seafood Industry: Aquaculture and Seaweed Cultivation in Southeast Asia
Barbara Watson Andaya
University of Hawaiʿi at Manoa
Plenary Panel 3: Beyond the Archipelago: The Regional Connections of Sulu
Charting the Sulu Archipelago: Exploring the Archaeological and Climatic Narratives of Sulu’s Seascapes
Stephen Acabado
University of California Los Angeles
In Search of a Deeper Understanding: Thomas Forrest and the Makaturing Eruption circa 1764–65
James Warren
Murdoch University
Abak: Tracing Capul’s Connection to the Sulu Archipelago
Francisco N. Datar
University of the Philippines Diliman
The Dynamics of the Religiosity of the Bajo People
Benny Baskara
Halu Oleo University
Plenary Panel 4: Sulu, BARMMM and the Philippine State: Historical and Legal Perspectives
The Legal Fragmentation and Reconstruction of Sulu
Jay L. Batongbacal, JSD
University of the Philippines Diliman
Exploring the Implications of Sulu’s Exit from BARMM
Nassef Adiong
BARMM Parliament Policy Research and Legal Services
Plenary Panel 5: Biodiversity and Marine Conservation in Sulu
The Biological Productivity of the Sulu Archipelago: Current Contributions and Future Potential
Wilfredo L. Campos
University of the Philippines Visayas (Retired Professor)
Shallow Water Marine Biodiversity of the Sulu Archipelago and a Wallacean and Linnean Shortfall Challenge
Benjamin M. Vallejo Jr.
University of the Philippines Diliman
Conservation Practices, Community Participation and Elite Capture: Marine Conservation in Practice in the Sulu Sea
Fadzila Majid Cooke
Initiatives for Marginal Seas of South and East Asia
Queries and Organizers
To view abstracts of each presentation, please visit the Conference Website. For queries, please email f[email protected].
The conference is a collaborative endeavor between the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Mindanao State University (MSU) as lead convenors, with the Philippines Studies Association (PSA Inc.) serving as co-convenor. UP CIDS is the policy research unit of the University of the Philippines. It currently hosts 16 Research Programs that conduct studies and recommend policies for various issues of national significance. Visit the UP CIDS Database and download 1000+ policy papers.