Tribute to Dodong Nemenzo, TWSC Founder

Emerlinda R. Roman, Leslie E. Bauzon, Consuelo J. Paz, Maria Serena I. Diokno,
Randolf S. David, Ricardo T. Jose, and Francisco Nemenzo Jr.

The Third World Studies Center (TWSC) celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2017. This milestone will not be possible without its founder, Professor Emeritus Francisco “Dodong” Nemenzo. If not for his idea back in 1977, at the height of martial law, to create a subversive space for academics against the Marcos dictatorship, the TWSC will not be here. It was his inspired act of courage that was sustained in four decades by successive directors, deputies, and research and administrative staff.

What started as a program with a collective of activist-scholars under Dodong’s office as then dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is now an established academic institution. Through its researchers and networks of scholars, TWSC pursues pioneering researches on political economy and globalization, social movements, authoritarianism and democratic governance, peace and human security, culture and identity, and (new) media and technology. The mimeographed papers of early years led to the founding of Kasarinlan: Philippine Journal of Third World Studies, now a highly regarded academic journal. The TWSC’s numerous books and monographs are now supplemented with works in documentary filmmaking.

At forty, TWSC continues to strive to be a space for critical scholarship, for researches that question received wisdom at the same time that TWSC reflects on its participation in knowledge creation. This is the scholarly commitment that we hope is worthy of the legacy of an audacious intellect that stands up against brute force and dogma.

In recognition of Dodong’s role in founding and nurturing the TWSC in the past four decades, we organized a small tribute for him during the international conference to celebrate TWSC’s fortieth anniversary. The tribute was held on 9 February 2017 (Thursday), from 5:00–6:00 p.m. at the GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium, Asian Center, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. We invited Dodong and his family, and his colleagues from the UP, to be there.