2025 International Visiting Researcher at Polytechnic University of the Philippines

by Jon G. Malek

I’m happy to share with the community that I have been selected as an International Visiting Researcher at the Research Institute for Culture and Language at the Polytechnic University of Philippines (PUP) in Manila. The tenure will be from January 2025 to December 2025. Despite the name, this position will largely be done remotely from Canada, although I will be travelling in Spring 2025 (probably) to carry out a workshop with PUP faculty and students. I will also collaborate with PUP faculty on a research project on the Filipino diaspora in Canada.

My relationship with the PUP was first forged in October of 2022 when Professor Joseph Reylan Viray, the Director of the Institute for Culture and Language, invited me to deliver a lecture on the Filipino Diaspora as part of their Kultura Lektura online series, which invites scholars and experts from around the world to discuss relevant topics. This lecture was delivered in November 2022. Joseph and I have since become friends. When I travelled to the Philippines in 2022, Joseph and I met over dinner where he also invited me to join the Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA), an international network of scholars. Since then, I’ve become a member of the editorial board of the Mabini Review Journal, published by the PUP.

My relationship with both Joseph and the PUP has enriched my research and has demonstrated that research on the Filipino diaspora in Canada catches the interest of scholars based in the Philippines. I’ve had chances before to share my research on the Filipino diaspora previously at conferences and workshops organized by the Ateneo de Manila University. At those conferences, my presentations on Filipino Canadians drew significant interest. There is plenty of research on Filipinos abroad, but it tends to be focused on the American diaspora. Research on Canadian Filipinos offers an alternate view of the history and experiences of Filipinos living abroad, enriching our overall understanding of the Filipino people and culture.

This position at the PUP is important because of the internationalization it brings. In academics, internationalization refers to the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into teaching and research. In the case of my research, this means looking at the global context helps to explain Filipino immigration to Canada and what reasons may have influenced the choice to leave the Philippines. As an academic, the benefit of internationalization means that my research has earned the respect and interest of scholars in the Philippines. This is good news because it draws international attention to the Filipino Canadian diaspora. It’s also important to recognize the efforts that the PUP and the Research Institute for Culture and Language take to internationalize their programs. The Institute is dedicated to researching, documenting, and advocating for Philippine culture and takes great strides to encourage and support international scholarship.

To have my work recognized in this way is humbling, but also encouraging as it shows the importance of this research. I was the only one in Canada selected for this honour (the other researcher is from Italy), but there is a growing number of scholars on the Filipino diaspora in Canada. In the future, I know that many more of these scholars will be receiving both national and international recognition and accolades for the great work they are doing, and I’m happy to have my modest place in this growing body of scholars.

Many thanks to everyone who has expressed well-wishes and congratulations to me for this opportunity. Everything I do is for the community, and I will endeavour to represent the community here in Winnipeg, and Canada, with dignity!

Jon Malek is an Assistant Professor of History at Providence University College. His research is on the history of the Philippines and the Filipino diaspora. His current writing projects include a book on the history of Filipinos in Canada and a project on Filipino food and culture.