USC-SAFAD Discusses International Linkages
Photo by Jessa Marie Pedrola
The School of Architecture and Fine Arts and Design (SAFAD) of the University of San Carlos held the SAFAD International Studies Seminar last Aug. 24, 2017 at the SAFAD Theater, Talamban Campus. The workshop was conducted to clarify the learnings gained from foreign countries. The workshop was also conducted to appropriately apply to Cebu the knowledge acquired from other countries.
Bro. Bela Lanyi, SVD opened the event by giving the workshop’s rationale. He stated that the main objective of the seminar was to be oriented of the international exchange options of students. The seminar wanted to promote awareness on international linkages as it is not very much evident in Cebu. According to Bro. Lanyi, the seminar’s goal was to boost the international character of the USC brand of education.
The university’s Vice President for Finance, Rev. Fr. Arthur Villanueva, SVD, gave a lecture on the importance of international linkages and their corresponding challenges and opportunities. His three-part lecture was a comprehensive overview of linkages of USC with international universities.
The first part was on the history of linkages of the university. Fr. Villanueva by saying, “USC is not an island and it cannot remain an island.” He continued by describing the directive of the Office External Affairs and that it was to be the central office that coordinated and evaluated the external linkages of USC.
The second part was on the present initiatives partaken by USC. “Foreign countries come knocking at our doors to offer opportunities. We do not run out of possibilities but there are hardly any takers,” Fr. Villanueva said. He said that USC possesses a competitive edge among other tertiary level institutions both in quantity and quality because it has 125 international linkages in over 27 countries around the world. The Vice President of Academic Affairs of USC, Fr. Aleksander Gaut, SVD, also emphasized that the efforts of USC in internationalizing its academic standing must focus on improving its research agendas.
In the last part of the lecture, Fr. Villanueva presented the prospects for international linkages. Fr. Villanueva imparted it was the best time to foster international linkages because there is rapid integration among countries. He believed that international linkages would provide powerful learning opportunities for USC and that it would help encourage global competition and cooperation of universities all over the world.
Prof. Katsuuro Matsuura then presented his talk entitled: “Japan as an Opportune Venue for Education.” He gave an impression of Japan’s culture, national character, language, and cost of living. With that he also showed five cases of successful collaboration between Japanese and Filipino SAFAD students.
Two SAFAD students also shared their experiences as foreign exchange students. Sheena Tamidnes described her time in University of Pécs in Hungary as a big adventure while Nicole Castillo described her time in Han University in the Netherlands as fulfilling. The USC Registrar, Mr. Romeo Yap, then followed with the lecture on administrative tasks connected with student exchange. Bro. Lanyi concluded the event with his closing remarks.
