DukiTuki 2025 forum unites top thinkers on communication, AI

Together, these thought leaders will explore how communication is shaped and reshaped by technology, identity, and power in an age of cultural transformation.

The event opens at 9 a.m. on Day 1 with a keynote address by Dr. Flor, followed by parallel sessions in the afternoon featuring thesis and paper presentations under the following themes:

The Public Sphere, Social Media, and Democratic Discourse

Gender Issues, Women Empowerment, and Queer Performative Space

Digital Literacy, Multimodality, and Artificial Intelligence

Pulong: Tinubdan sa Alamdag

Counterhegemony, Decolonization, and Fandom

Journalism, Artificial Intelligence, and the Cebuano Language and Culture

Also scheduled on Day 1 is the hands-on workshop “AI am Ready: Artificial Intelligence as Pedagogical Scaffold,” a collaborative initiative with UP Cebu’s Ugnayan ng Pahinungód. The workshop responds to the urgent need to integrate AI into education by equipping teachers with tools for personalized learning, adaptive feedback, multimodal instruction, and ethical engagement with AI in the classroom.

Day 2 will open with Dr. Siglos Jr.’s plenary talk on Bakla Bildung, which is an exploration of Brenda Mage and The Social Climber Squad during lockdown. Through the lens of talak, a queer performative mode of excess and disorientation, he critiques dominant narratives and reveals new forms of bakla intimacy, resistance, and world-making.

This will be followed by another round of student- and faculty-led parallel sessions beginning at 10:00 a.m.

The forum will conclude with a plenary featuring Mr. Lastimosa, known for his independently produced digital news programs Baruganan and Panahom sa Kilumkilom. The session will include the presentation of faculty research on Baruganan and a student thesis on Panahom, setting the stage for an open forum with Lastimosa on journalism, digital migration, and the evolving Cebuano public sphere. The session will be moderated by multi-platform journalist Annie Fe Perez Gallardo, with Asst. Prof. Ma. Theresa Q. Tabada serving as the reactor.

In line with the spirit of innovation and critical inquiry that defines DukiTuki, the UP Cebu Communication Program, organizer of the annual forum, announces the launch of its Master of Arts in Communication and Media (MACM) starting in Academic Year 2025–2026.

The MACM program is designed to equip aspiring scholars, educators, and professionals in Cebu and the Visayas with advanced skills in communication, critical thinking, and socially impactful research.

Rooted in the principles of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the program emphasizes transformative approaches to health communication, climate change narratives, nonviolent communication, and ethical media practices.

With its strong regional grounding and forward-looking framework, MACM aims to cultivate communication leaders capable of shaping more inclusive, sustainable, and informed societies.

For inquiries, interested parties may contact the program through macm.upcebu@up.edu.ph. (UP Cebu Communication Program)