It was three years ago when I had my first nationalistic class. By nationalistic I mean a course that would talk about identity, culture and stuff like that: the subject Philippine History, for instance. I took that course—I don’t remember much from it now—and I got a taste of the basics: colonialism via religion (Spain), mind (the US), and the Japanese interlude. My teacher went on to explain that though the Philippine colonial period left physical wounds due to the brutality of the soldiers, the one that has lingered up to now is the colonization of the Philippines by the US, hence colonial mentality.
He also told me that I am a “Westernized kid:” I was raised by King Arthur and harry Potter; I struggle in Filipino; I prefer reading English texts. Rizal’s novels I read as a part of a requirement in high school, though. I don’t deny these—my teacher took it upon himself to make me aware of nationalism, of “remembering who I am.” He spouted nationalistic facts during conversations, long after the semester had ended. An entry from my journal quotes him:
...reasons I teach History…one, to make you appreciate history; two, to make you read more about history….Besides, I also chose to teach [in the] tertiary level because I wanted to teach nationalism.
He spouted so much facts and lectures about nationalism that I wondered whether it was part of his system to do such thing. Another teacher whom I have spoken too, however, said that maybe my former history professor won’t stop until I become nationalistic or, at least, see his point. Thankfully, my former teacher has for a time stopped spewing out nationalism talks.
I haven’t spoken to the History teacher for sometime. I thought for a while that I would be given a rest from hearing nationalistic lectures—yes, I do get bored. (Who doesn’t get tired from hearing the same thing over again?) But, alas! The rest I thought was not for long. I enrolled in Science, Technology, and Society (STS), a General Education course at school. The professor said we’d be talking about gadgets. And at the end of the semester, we should be able to have nationalism in our heads. One of the course’s objectives, after all, is to make us nationalistic.
STS will deal with the toys and technologies through a historical approach. How nationalism will fit into the picture, I don’t know. I’ll have to find out, won’t I?
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