The University of San Carlos officially launched the new USC Publishing House and its first-ever digital book, The Chinese Mestizos of Cebu City 1750–1900, on November 11, 2022, at Rigney Hall, Talamban Campus.
Starting its publishing operations in 1963 as San Carlos Publications, the official publishing arm of the University of San Carlos was renamed as USC Press in 2009 and now as the USC Publishing House. The USC Publishing House is going digital addressing the shifting landscape from print to digital publishing both locally and internationally.
The USC Publishing House plays a critical role in enhancing the research capabilities of the university as USC aspires to become a research-intensive university, according to USC President Fr. Narciso A. Cellan Jr., SVD, D.Comm. It embraces the path of sustainability and contributes to creating a resilient world, said Fr. Jesuraj Antoniappen, SVD, Ph.D., USC’s Vice President for Academic Affairs. Now, it supports publications that promote the UN’s Agenda for Sustainable Development, a shared blueprint for global peace and prosperity, according to Dr. Julius P. Relampagos, USC Publishing House Manager.
The publication of USC’s first digital book is the beginning of a new era in the digital transformation of the university’s publishing arm. The Chinese Mestizos of Cebu City 1750–1900 by Dr. Michael Cullinane was officially recognized as USC’s first digital book and is also available in a print version.
The book presents a detailed ethnohistory of the dynamic Chinese mestizo community of Cebu City from the middle of the 18th century to the end of the next. It also documents the remarkable transformation of these Mestizos Sangleyes through three critical periods: their commercial and socio-political empowerment during a decline in Spanish hegemony (1750s to 1820s); their bitter and unsuccessful struggle with Spanish Augustinians and resurgent colonial officials (1820s–1850), culminating in the suppression of the Parian parish and municipality; and the post-1850 roles that many played in the ascendancy of Cebu City as the archipelago’s second most important administrative, judicial, educational, religious, and commercial urban center.
Dr. Cullinane is the Associate Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Faculty Associate in the Department of History of the same university. He has extensive research, publication, and residence in the Philippines, with interests in 19th and 20th-century Philippine social, political, and demographic history.
The launching events were hosted by Rosella Abobo and organized by the USC Publishing House team that included Dr. Relampagos, Centina Bernil (Administrative Officer), Ivy Jumao-as (Marketing Consultant), Jaclyn Abregana (Graphic Design Consultant), Michele Veloso (Layout Artist), and Nina Blanche Pepito (Social Media Officer). Interns from the B.F.A. Cinema program created the USC Publishing House video documentary, while B.A. Marketing student volunteers provided technical support on social media marketing.