DR. LUCENA R. Felipe, director of the University Library System, has arrived from her participation in the 26th Annual Center for Asia-Pacific Exchange (CAPE) American Studies Forum held Aug. 1-8 in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Nine university professors, scholars, and graduate students from the Asia-Pacific Region participated in the said forum. Dr. Felipe was the lone representative of the Philippines.  Dr. Felipe is the area director of the American Studies Resource Center at MMSU.

Centering on “American Aesthetics: Art, Violence, and Literature in the United States”, the forum’s lectures were delivered by four prominent American scholars.  The featured speaker was Dr. Russ Castronovo, a Jean Wall Bennett professor of English and American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  The first special speaker was Dr. Leslie Bow, an associate professor of English and director of the Asian American Studies Program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The other speakers were:  Dr. Paul Lyons, associate professor of English at the University of Hawaii-Manoa; and Dr. Deane Neubauer, director of the Globalization Research Network and consultant of the education program of the East-West Center. He also served as chair, political science department; dean, college of social sciences; and vice president, academic affairs, all at UH.                                   

Eight subtopics were presented in the forum:  “Common sense and revolution”, “Literature and the art of social government”, “Lynching and aesthetics”, “Anarchy, internationalism, and American literature”, and “Globalization and American literature” by Dr. Castronovo; “Racial interstitiality and the Jim Crow era” by Dr. Bow; “U.S. writers in Oceania” by Dr. Lyons; and “The contest for hearts and minds: Will the political center hold in American politics?” by Dr. Neubauer.

Through the forum, Dr. Felipe said that she has broadened her perspectives about American culture and society. She was also given the chance to exchange ideas and develop friendships with other participants and with leading specialists of American studies.  Further, she was able to visit libraries and the Graduate School of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Her participation in the aid international forum was made possible through the Public Affairs Section of the Cultural Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Manila, MMSU, and CAPE.