What and Why Should We Teach? The Development of a Graduate Program in Archives and Records Management in the Philippines

This study recounts and examines the development of the Master in Archives and Records Management (MARM) program of the School of Library and Information Studies, University of the Philippines Diliman (UP SLIS). The first of its kind in the Philippines, this two-year graduate program equips students with essential knowledge and skills to manage and develop archives, record centers, special collections, and other memory and collecting institutions. The authors, who also serve as faculty and proponents of the MARM program, trace the evolution of archival education in the Philippines that reflects the country’s colonial history, as well as the early initiatives to offer courses and a specialized graduate degree program for archives and records management. These initiatives, particularly the proposal to launch a graduate degree program faced issues and challenges. Some of the major hurdles were the faculty qualification requirements and infrastructure, which shape the subsequent faculty development plans and programs of the UP SLIS. In 2021, the MARM program was finally approved, and it accepted its first cohort of students in 2022. The authors share their own encounters and lived experiences as archival educators, curriculum designers, decision makers, and learners. They connect their various experiences in generating the program contents and pedagogical approaches with the archival landscape