University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters


The University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters, popularly known as "UST Artlets" or "UST AB", is the liberal arts school of the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest and the largest Catholic university in Manila, Philippines.
Established in 1896 with the name Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, following Spanish tradition, the faculty is the first and oldest liberal arts tertiary school in the Philippines. It offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in different areas of Media Studies, Social Sciences and Humanities. It is proclaimed to be a Center of Excellence in Philosophy and a Center of Development in Communication, Literature, and in Journalism by the Commission on Higher Education.

History

The University of Santo Tomas started offering courses in liberal arts and philosophy since its foundation in 1611. These courses were later institutionalized with the establishment of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in 1896. A College of Liberal Arts was also established in 1926 which was known for its preparatory courses for Law and Medical schools.
The College of Liberal Arts is divided into Arts and Pure Sciences. The Pure Sciences department has diversified due to scientific advancements in the era and it has developed into the University of Santo Tomas College of Science. Consequently, the College of Liberal Arts merged with the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters in 1964, thus modifying the faculty's name into "Arts and Letters".
At the onset, the faculty offered limited number of programs--Associate in Arts, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Literature, and Bachelor of Philosophy. In the course of time, new courses and majors gradually developed.
In 1971, the faculty started offering Bachelor of Arts degree programs in Asian Studies, Behavioral Science, Communication Arts, Economics, Journalism, Literature, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, and Translation. The A.B. major in Translation was eventually phased out due to lack of enrollment and funding.
In 1994, the faculty started offering a major in Legal Management, an interdisciplinary degree program in business management and law designed to suit the needs of students intending to go to law school after graduation with intentions to have other career prospects.
In 2002, the faculty teamed up with the UST College of Education to offer a double degree—Bachelor of Arts-Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Social Sciences/Studies. The program was discontinued in 2007 because of government regulations that would stretch the time to complete the AB-BSE degree to at least 5 years and 4 summers.
In June 2011, the faculty started offering A.B. History and A.B. English Language Studies; and in August 2018, the faculty started offering A.B. Creative Writing.

Deans

The following is a list of individuals who have served as deans of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, guiding its academic and administrative directions over the decades. '''This is an incomplete list.'''

Academics

UST Faculty of Arts and the Letters offers thirteen undergraduate degree and it has been recognized by the Commission on Higher Education as a Center of Excellence in Philosophy, and as a Center of Development in Communication, Journalism, and Literature.
Eight undergraduate programs have been assessed by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on Accreditation : Asian Studies, Behavioral Science, Communication, Journalism, Political Science, and Sociology hold PACUCOA Level III reaccreditation, while History and English Language Studies have Level I accreditation. Additionally, Economics, Legal Management, Literature, and Philosophy are reaccredited at PACUCOA Level IV. The Communication and Journalism programs are accredited with the ASEAN University Network-Quality Assurance certification in November 2022.
All undergraduate degrees offered by the faculty are Bachelor of Arts.

Programs/Degrees

  • Asian Studies – Interdisciplinary studies in Asian history, philosophy, literature, religion, geography, politics, culture, and foreign service.
  • Behavioral Science – Combines psychology, anthropology, cognitive science, and human resource management.
  • Communication – Covers media studies, linguistics, advertising, and production in film, television, and digital platforms.
  • Creative Writing – Specializes in fiction, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, and creative nonfiction.
  • Economics – Focuses on economic theory, research methods, and applications.
  • English Language Studies – Covers syntax, pragmatics, grammar, applied linguistics, and World Englishes.
  • History – Offers courses in Philippine, Asian, European, and world history, with emphasis on historiography.
  • Journalism – Training in news, feature, and investigative writing, broadcast journalism, and layout.
  • Legal Management – Integrates legal studies with business, public policy, and management preparation.
  • Literature – Focuses on literary theory, genre studies, translation, and stylistics.
  • Philosophy – Studies classical and contemporary philosophy, ethics, and Thomistic thought.
  • Political Science – Offers coursework in governance, international relations, public administration, and diplomacy.
  • Sociology – Focuses on social theory, research, policy, and community immersion programs.
The most populated programs in 2024 were Communication, Political Science, Behavioral Science, Legal Management, and Journalism.

Facilities

St. Raymund de Peñafort Building

The faculty is located in the first and second levels of St. Raymund de Peñafort Building in the northeastern part of the UST campus, near Dapitan St.. The college shares the building with the UST College of Commerce and Business Administration which occupies the third and fourth levels.
It also has a medium-sized auditorium but was transformed into three expandable multimedia rooms, several audio-visual conference rooms, a fully wired computer laboratory, a student activity center, a faculty hall, fully air-conditioned classrooms, free wi-fi access, and photocopying machines.

Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building

Two of its programs, Communication and Journalism, utilize the 11th and 12th floors of the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building which is also home to the university's Communications Bureau.

UST Benavides Library

Among its many departments, the Miguel de Benavides Library has nine departments which suit the academic requirements of the college:
  • Humanities Section - books on world literature and philosophy.
  • Languages Section - books on languages, linguistics, and speech communication.
  • Filipiniana Section - books on economics, history, arts, culture, literature, etc. that was published in the Philippines.
  • Civil Law Section - books on laws and jurisprudence.
  • Social Sciences Section - books on history, education, economics, political science, psychology etc.
  • Asian Studies Section - books on Asian history, geography, politics, society, etc.
  • Religion Section - books on religion and philosophy.
  • Periodicals Section - hard copies of major newspapers and magazines from the pre-war period up to the present.
  • General References Section - encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, almanacs, etc.
  • Educational Technology Center - supervises the Tomcat, a student-run cable television network. The center has mini-theatres, audio-visual rooms, and an archive of important films, television documentaries, and audio-CDs.
The library also has conference rooms readily available and free-of-charge to students and faculty upon prior reservation.

Research centers

The college is affiliated with the following research institutes:
  • University of Santo Tomas Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies - a special academic unit run by literature professors and active writers in the country and abroad. The center conducts literary workshops for a select group of literary enthusiasts, dubbed as Fellows. The Thomasian Writers Guild is an independent association of U.S.T. students, faculty and alumni who are actively engaged in the literary field. Members frequently run or at least participate in the projects of the center.

    Faculty of Arts and Letters Student Council

The Faculty of Arts and Letters Student Council is the primary student governing body of all bonafide students of the Faculty of Arts and Letters. It is currently divided into two bodies, namely, the executive board, and the Board of Majors. The executive board is composed of the seven faculty-wide elective officers, and the Board of Majors, colloquially referred to as "Bom", which exercises quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial powers, and is composed of the highest executive officer of each existing academic society in the faculty. The ABSC Constitution provides for a need to have a Speaker in the Board of Majors. Current initiatives of the Board of Majors include the de facto Deputy Speaker and Secretary.
The contemporary ABSC can trace its roots from the Pax Romana which exercises the functions of a student forum in the university during the Martial Law period in the Philippines under the dictatorship of President Ferdinand E. Marcos. A student council was already in operation when the Marcos administration discouraged the formation of student councils. The former AB Student Council ceased operations. Although, to further put into realization in the context of academic and social liberty as students of the premiere liberal arts college of the University of Santo Tomas, academic societies were founded in the 1970s and are still existing today and are older than many student councils. However, no academic society in the faculty held the specific term "Student Council" and there was no unifying student council for all students of Arts and Letters back then.
Malacañang heard of the students' initiative to create a faculty-wide AB Student Council and summoned its supposed founder into the Palace, Reynaldo Lopez, then president of the Pax Romana, to defend the rationale behind the creation of the student council in front of President Marcos himself. Creation of such organization is something which was not allowed during the era of dictatorship for it might trigger radical ideas and initiate revolt against the idea of a "new society" which Marcos forcefully inculcates the nation with. Through the efforts of this new breed of student leaders, the ABSC was founded as the first student council of its kind in the country, in the year 1980, exercising autonomy and executive powers from the mandate vested upon the council officers by the students of the faculty. The founder, Reynaldo Lopez, became the first vice president, and Ronald Llamas, a future member of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino's cabinet, served as the first president of the newly-established student council.
The ABSC president, along with other presidents of college and faculty student councils create the legislative branch of the university-wide Central Student Council. They are known as the UST CSC Central Board and they are the counterpart of the more popular executory branch of the Central Student Council, UST CSC Executive Board, who are elected via university-wide voting. Student council elections are held during the last few weeks of the school year. However, it was not until 1991, under the presidency of Lito Villanueva, that this practice came into surface. Villanueva was the first ABSC president to serve for two academic years, a feat followed during the UST Quadricentennial Celebration by Julius Fernandez who initiated the Quasquicentennial celebration of the faculty. Aside from contributing to university-wide changes, the ABSC is known to lead the portion of Thomasian students who are serving as the front liners in rallies and causes, events of national essence and socio-political gatherings inside or outside the university.