Observer Columnist Earns Doctoral Degree

KAHULUI, Maui --Attorney Lance D. Collins, a regular commentator on Philippine politics and culture in this newspaper, earned his Ph.D. from the University of 

Hawai'i at Manoa last month. He conducted his graduate research while 

continuing a full time private practice on Maui.

Collins' dissertation explored the appearance of particular modern 

social identities in independent Philippine cinema as symbols of coming 

social and political transformation and renewal in Philippine life. The 

study analyzed the symbolism constellated in the work of Joel Lamangan

and others utilizing traditional Philippine folktales through a 

classical Jungian approach with particular attention to the struggle of 

the shadow and renewal of collective consciousness.

His approach to the symbolic analysis of film reclaims classical Jungian 

thought as an alternative approach to film from the dominant approaches 

prevalent in film studies. His work also challenges the range of inquiry 

in Philippine studies for gender and sexuality.