New York — Consul General Claro S. Cristobal signed on Monday, March 2 the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with New York University represented by Carolyn Dinshaw, Dean for the Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Science, for the establishment of a Philippine Studies program at the prestigious university.

Following the signing of the MOU, Consul General Cristobal turned over to NYU the amount of PhP 5 million from the Philippine Government to fund the program. The program is an initiative of Deputy House Speaker Loren Legarda who believes that the Philippine Government should begin to further study and address the needs of the increasing number of Filipino immigrants in the US.

The Philippine Studies program will be available to undergraduate and graduate students of NYU interested in the Humanities and the Philippines. It will focus on the global and cosmopolitan considerations and aspects of Philippine culture and history. The program will be housed within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at NYU. Dr. Ana Maria Theresa P. Labrador, Deputy Director General of the National Museum of the Philippines, oversees the implementation of the program for the Philippines.

Consul General Cristobal said that the establishment of the program at a top-notch university like NYU is a leap in the right direction in the promotion of Philippine culture and Filipino identity, including the diaspora, in the US. He added that the program will bring better understanding of our culture and history and put context on its linkages to Latin America, Europe, and the United States.