In an aim to ignite meaningful dialogues on the influence of media in shaping various perspectives, this semester’s class of ENG125: Semiotics and Media hosted the second Semiotics Media Colloquium (SeMeCo) on Thursday, December 4, with the theme “In Technicolor.”
Fourth-year BA Literature and Cultural Studies and third-year BA English Language Studies students convened at the PRISM Function Hall to launch the event ahead of their presentations in later concurrent sessions.
Rayyan Ishmael Mabini, Chair of the Steering Committee opened the event, underscoring how color and symbolism add new layers of meaning. He noted that, while it may have a literal dimension, SeMeCo views color as a tool for deeper understanding.
“Just like how Technicolor was an advancement in technology and media forever, we want SeMeCo and semiotics and media studies to further progress things such as inclusivity, social justice, and activism,” he said.
Mabini’s insights highlighted the colloquium's broader focus on semiotics as an active tool for interpreting societal and cultural change.
Dr. Irish Mae Dalona, Chairperson of the English Department, reiterated this view, linking semiotic literacy to research and academic growth.
She framed the struggle of producing research within a higher purpose and called on students to remember that, in her words, “Research is one of the few things that allows us to transform uncertainty into understanding. It turns confusion into clarity and clarity into courage.”
Dr. Dalona emphasized, “If at any point in this process you felt overwhelmed, uncertain, or even tempted to drop everything, that means you are not alone. That means you are also dealing with real intellectual work.”
She underscored how the discipline trains scholars not merely to analyze texts but also to read the world with rigor and intention.
Guest keynote speaker Adjemore Manabat, a faculty member of Misamis University’s English Department and an MSU-IIT alumnus, enriched the discussion by addressing the role of media in times of crisis. He explored crisis communication and demonstrated how cultural symbols and mythology help communities make sense of complex realities.
Drawing from Southeast Asian symbols, Filipino folklore, and pandemic narratives, he demonstrated how semiotics serves as a bridge between information and lived experiences.
“Semiotics can be used to unravel the unfiltered expressions of marginalized voices. So tinutulungan tayo ng semiotics and media to unravel the unfiltered expressions of the marginalized voices,” Manabat clarified.
He elaborated that metaphors, from dragons in the movie Raya and the Last Dragon, to duendes and manananggals during COVID-19, make abstract crises more culturally intelligible.
“If you overwhelm your audience with very high-level words, what will happen? They won’t be able to decode the meaning. And even more so, they won’t be able to understand the real crisis. So, it’s very important that we find a way to localize a crisis. How do we do this? We can use metaphor and myth,” Manabat emphasized.
The colloquium continued with concurrent sessions during which BALCS and BAELS students of the ENG125 class presented their studies across eight themes that showcased how media serves as a powerful space for constructing, negotiating, and challenging Filipino identities, cultural norms, and social meanings.
Their presentations spanned diverse topics, including family and childhood narratives, satire, political resistance, consumer culture, morality and religious symbolism, queer empowerment, digital play, and emotional interaction.
This year’s SeMeCo featured a total of 26 studies presented across eight concurrent sessions by students from both the BAELS and BALCS classes.
Written by Maan Deuda
Proofread by Andrea Ross Sedero and Harris Donmoen Iligan
Photos by Charlize Carvajal
Photo Edit by Aiyeesha Abah
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