The CAS Bahandi Award, inaugurated in 2019 during CASβ 30th anniversary, serves as a platform to honor the remarkable contributions of students, faculty, administrative staff, and alumni who have exemplified excellence in various fields. The term Bahandi encapsulates the legacy, wealth, and fortune that they bring to the college community and the University in general. From academic achievements to leadership initiatives, the awards showcase their diverse talents and accomplishments.
The CAS Bahandi Awards 2024 acknowledged the importance of holistic development beyond the classroom by honoring outstanding alumni from the different UA&P Schools, all of them CAS students in their undergraduate years, who exhibited exemplary leadership, service, and involvement in extracurricular activities, and their contributions to campus life and the wider community. These individuals not only excelled academically but more importantly, as professionals,Β consistently demonstrating a commitment to making a positive impact on society. From business leaders to social entrepreneurs, UA&P alumni continue to make a mark in various industries, embodying the University's mission of producing principled and competent leaders.
For the 2024 Bahandi Awards, Ms. Kinna Kwan has been selected as one of the outstanding UA&P professionals in her field, honored as a Bahandi Awardee.
Ms. Kwan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Major in Humanities with a Professional Certificate in Humanities in 2010. She is presently the Municipal Administrator of the Local Government of Guiuan, Samar.
She holds a Master of Arts Degree in Cultural Heritage Studies (UST, 2017) and a Diploma in Urban, Community, and Regional Planning (UP Diliman, 2021). Her thesis, which earned a meritissimus (highest merit) recognition, focused on the social value of historic sites hinged on community memories and attachment to places.
Ms. Kwan is a researcher and heritage practitioner. She worked as a project-based researcher at the UST Graduate SchoolβCenter for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics. Her work at the center involved cultural mapping, drafting of conservation management plans, and providing technical assistance to local government units and heritage managers across the country. As an advocate of heritage and culture in the public sector, she has worked with government institutions such as the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (PCEP), Department of Tourism, Philippine Postal Corp., and served as a consultant in her hometown, Guiuan. She previously worked for the Lopez Museum and Library and the President Elpidio Quirino Foundation.
She is also active in refugee research and has been collaborating with UNHCR in studying the Philippinesβ history of refugee assistance. Her focus is on the 5th Wave when the Philippines became a transit country for White Russian refugees in 1949. Her research led her to major archives in Australia, USA and France, and was published in The Journal of History.
(source: https://philippines.icomos.org/2020/06/05/icomos-philippines-new-members-2020/)
As a cultural practitioner for more than half a decade, she was tasked to be the main proponent of the 2021 Quincentennial Commemorations in Guiuan, Samar.
Her academic background and extensive work with LGUs all over the Philippines have strengthened her advocacy of mainstreaming heritage conservation and development in the public sector.
(source: https://www.facebook.com/ustgscccpet106/photos/a.456379567882854/1606839866170146/?type=3)
Our graduates since 2005 have entered and thrived in the field of law, in the corporate setting, in media and mass communication, and in business. In terms of professions, our graduates have taken positions of being copywriters, corporate consultants, subeditors, lawyers, and conservation and heritage officers, among many others. Common to these various fields is the Humanities graduateβs capacity to envision the needs of the human being that these professional enterprises serve. Furthermore, what makes the Humanities graduate thrive is their capacity to innovate within the career of their choice.
Effectively gather data for interpretation and appraisal through looking, listening, and research, as grounded in the Humanistic disciplines of Literature and Language, Philosophy, History, and Art. This grounds the graduatesβ capacity to recognize diversity and unity of disciplines in pursuit of wisdom, the synthesis of love of God and knowledge, faith and reason, culture and life.
Complementarily use the methods of the Humanistic disciplines in Interpreting, Analyzing, and Appraising the human person, human society, and culture, fostering openness, appreciation, and sensitivity for what is human.
Innovate and develop new ideas that meet the demands of the ever-changing socio-cultural landscape through the appreciation of how the different Humanistic disciplines are distinct and complementary to each other. This grounds the graduates as persons who are conversant, adaptable, and drawn to contribute to the upliftment of the human condition in the pursuit of the truth.
Graduates of the Humanities Program are prepared to take on jobs related to any of the humanistic disciplines. At the same time, they are prepared for further specialization within the career paths of their choice. Intensive training in the complementary use of various methods drawn from different humanistic disciplines in the discipline of their choice leads students to a deeper understanding of the constantly changing socio-cultural landscape. This training and understanding equips the humanities graduate to innovate and develop new ideas that meet the demands of modern-day career opportunities.