Date and Time: November 24th (Wednesday), 2010, 12:00-13:30
Place: Small Meeting Room II (Room no. 331), 3rd floor, Inamori
Foundation Memorial Building
Speaker: Prof. AMBETH R. OCAMPO
Topic: “History, re-presentation and the State: Banknotes and nationhood”.
(Abstract)
THRICE colonized and with an archipelagic landscape the Philippines is a young nation constantly in search of self. History is central to this search for identity and the teaching of it in schools is both: INFORMATIVE, as an academic discipline that studies the past; and FORMATIVE when the past is utilized to situate citizens in the context of the nation, its past, present, and future. Often overlooked in the study of the writing of history are everyday objects like: coins, banknotes, stamps, monuments, official holidays, commemorations, and street names. So common are these that we see but do not notice. These objects become contested territory when history becomes a handmaid to nation-building and nationalism. Giving banknotes a second look shows us how the state utilizes history to promote citizenship and nationhood.
Banknotes go beyond mere monetary instruments. As an international calling card, they project a sense of nation.