Stakeholders, not subjects: Learnings from Mary

I STILL couldn't believe I was able to become a student of Ateneo's first female professor, sociologist Mary Racelis, who I was reminded of recently by the genealogist Mona Magno Veluz, who comes by the name of the famous Mighty Magulang is, on her mother's side, a great great great great granddaughter of Patrick Henry, one of the founding fathers of the United States who famously said, "Give me liberty, or give me death." She was also the 39th great-grandchild of Charlemagne.

When I enrolled in her graduate class Anthropology 277 (Seminar in Development Anthropology) in June 2011 during her stint as lecturer at the University of the Philippines Department of Anthropology, her readings were numerous and relevant to the topics being discussed, and she would quiz us to discuss what we read, which were mostly case studies from other countries, and she would give her insights on her experiences here in the Philippines.