Another Milestone for Devcom

 

One More Congratulatory Note

On December 13, 2011, Dr. Nora Cruz Quebral, acknowledged “mother” of development communication was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of London, through its London School of Economics and Political Science.  In a fitting tribute to Nora, Chin Saik Yoon, owner of Southbend Publishing Company in Penang, Malaysia,  posted on the Southbend site Nora’s lecture at the LSE.  Southbend also published Nora’s eBook titled Development Communication Primer.  Visit the site: http://www.southbend.my.

You want a copy of Nora’s lecture?  Get one from http://www.southbend.my/downloads/NoraCruzQuebralDec2011Lecture.pdf.  This is a must reading for all devcom researchers, students, professionals, and practitioners.

Nora’s award is long time due, of course.  Those of us who had the opportunity to explore devcom under her tutelage in the 60s to the 70s knew that one day she would be recognized in a big way for her intellectual contributions to devcom.  We simply didn’t know then when and how.  Many of us in devcom have acknowledged in the last year the efforts of the individual who initiated the nomination of Nora to the award, Dr. Linje Manyoso, a young devcom scholar from Malta.

Linje got his PhD in devcom from LaTrobe University in Australia.  His research focused on devcom Los Baños style, so he reviewed the materials that originated from Los Baños, which included Nora’s seminal paper on devcom, her succeeding books, and other references including my first book on community broadcasting published in 1984.  He was probably the first non-Filipino who focused on the historical aspects of devcom in his research.  Anyway, his research report found its way to the Asian Journal of Communication as a major article.

Dr. Linje’s article focused on the role of Dr. Quebral in the conceptualization and development of the concept of development communication.  I knew Linje was completely enamored with devcom.  When he got accepted as faculty in the Communication and Media Department of the London School of Economics, he began working on the possibility of nominating Nora to the prestigious honorary doctorate (honoris causa) in the LSE.  For the less initiated, getting nominated to this award at LSE is extremely competitive, and is a long process.  Nora’s award was in the works for a couple of years, I believe.  I knew that a great number of people, including colleagues from abroad, contributed immensely to the documentation of Nora’s devcom journey.

Nora earned her PhD in communication from the University of Illinois, her MS in agricultural journalism from the University of Wisconsin, and her BA English (magna cum laude) from UP Diliman.  Before joining the then Office of Extension and Publications under the Office of the Dean, UP College of Agriculture (precursor of UPLB), Nora was Editor of the technical journal of UPCA, called the Philippine Agricultrist.  When she joined the OEP, she became part of the triumvirate (with Dr. Tom Flores and Dr. Johnny Jamias) who organized later the Department of Agricultural Information and Communications (which later was renamed to Department of Agricultural Communications, then to Department of Development Communication, and later, again, to the Institute of Development Communication, and later, finally, to the College of Development Communication).  It was in December 1971, during the UPLB symposium with the theme “Breakthroughs in Agricultural Development” in honor of the late Dr. Dioscoro L. Umali, that Nora presented her seminal paper titled “Development Communication in the Agricultural Context.”  That opened up a whole new horizon for us who were in agricultural communications.

Indeed, Nora’s award, coming from the University of London’s London School of Economics and Political Science, which I have invariably referred to as the “prince of the social sciences” in some discussions, is a milestone in the field of development communication (Los Baños style).  We in the field of devcom do rejoice for Nora’s award, and at the same time we should look at this as a new challenge for which we must demonstrate higher level expertise and commitment in pushing further development communication as a calling.

Perhaps it’s time that the UPLB College of Development Communication  finalizes its efforts at modernizing its academic programs to follow the modernizing efforts that Dr. Quebral has integrated into her updated definition of what development communication ought to be today and in the future.

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