Freshmen and possibly sophomores at Ateneo de Manila University could be required to take less English and Filipino subjects when the new schoolyear rolls in this coming July 2016.
This was announced at a faculty meeting last week in the Loyola Heights campus, according to a Coconuts Manila source, but according to an Ateneo spokesperson, “this is not yet final, in fact, the administration has a focus group discussion with the students this week on the proposal.”
According to the source, while the idea has been floated around the past few months, it was brought up again formally last week.
If plans push though, Filipino literature will be trimmed down from nine required units to six, while required English literature will be cut in half from 12 units to six.
Both the English and Filipino departments will likely let go of part-time instructors and professors and retain only full timers.
It is not clear which subjects will be removed.
Core courses in English and Literature are Communication in English I and II, Introduction to Fiction and Introduction to Poetry and Drama.
In a Facebook post, Ateneo English Literature professor Danton Remoto warned, “There goes the richness of a general education that opened the doors and windows of our minds in less purposive times.”
Ateneo’s Department of English has been around since 1868 and has been graced by the presence of the country’s most recognizable names in the humanities field — such as national artists Salvador “Badong” Bernal, Bienvenido Lumbera and Rolando Tinio.
There’s also Fr Miguel Bernas, Fr Joseph A. Galdon, Doreen G. Fernandez, Emmanuel S. Torres and Gilda Cordero-Fernando.
“How I wish National Artist for Literature Rolando S. Tinio were still alive and here with us to singe them all with fire from his dragon mouth,” wrote Remoto, referring to the late poet, playwright and former head of the English department who also pioneered the university’s Filipino department.
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