Reflections on the State of Speech Communication at the University of the Philippines Diliman

Abstract

The speech communication program of the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts (DSCTA) underwent significant changes in 2018 that introduced two areas of concentration: Interpersonal and Instructional Communication, and Rhetoric and Performance. More than five years later, an initial assessment of the program is helpful in identifying its shifts and future directions. This article, then, provides initial reflections on its current state. It interrogates the bases of interpersonal communication courses, traces the development of the instructional communication area, outlines possibilities to localize rhetorical studies, and advances means to expand the view on performance. The emergence and required use of nontraditional platforms during a crucial digital turn in communication studies and the COVID-19 pandemic produced different situations and realities for the two areas of concentration. Digital platforms served as sites that informed teaching, research, and even relationships between and among instructors, learners, avenues for teaching, and learning materials. For rhetoric courses, online platforms and their networked affordances paved the way for new rhetorical artifacts, communities, and rhetors. Performance courses maximized online platforms to host student performances and enabled the concentration to revisit its definition. Ultimately, as the article offers some reflections, it also envisions a trajectory for speech communication studies in the University and the country, especially with the ever-continuing presence of digital platforms.