A faculty member of the  Silliman University  History and Political Science department in Dumaguete City  presented a paper on the misconception that cultural enrichment from colonization is derived only from the encroaching power, at a national conference held at  the Holy Angel University in Pampanga, recently.

Prof. Joseph Raymond said colonial experience is complex and can be explained in various contextual themes, a SU press release said.

He said colonialism serves as a channel for the accelerated mutation of colonized societies, and the colonizers, as much as the colonized, are active participants in the dynamics of the colonial encounter.

Raymond was one of the speakers at the 33rd national conference of the Pambansang Samahan sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino (National Organization of Filipino Psychology).  His paper, “Spiritual Syncretism: A Discourse on Early Protestantism and its Relation to the Filipino Concepts of Kapwa, Ginhawa and Ligaya,” discussed how syncretism takes place as civilizations interact in a world system.

Syncretism is the blending of elements from different cultural traditions, and the result is that a foreign tradition becomes meaningful in a land far from its source, the press release added.*

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