Research

As the national university, we champion and support innovative research that addresses the country’s most pressing challenges.

22 Feb 2024

UP Diliman

State suppression of human rights activism and civil society restrictions will hinder Indigenous languages from being “preserved, revitalized and promoted”

In 2019, the United Nations announced its intention to hold an International Decade of Indigenous Languages starting in 2022, in...

Read More

20 Feb 2024

UP Los Baños

Study describes the expansion of three types of universe and the likelihood of having advanced civilizations among us

In this study, we investigate how life can spread from one planet to another in a simplified universe where planets...

Read More

15 Feb 2024

UP Baguio

Wild sunflower, an invasive weed, can serve as a natural pesticide against the golden apple snail

This article focuses on investigating the molluscicidal properties of an invasive weed, Tithonia diversifolia (wild sunflower) against Pomacea canaliculata (golden kuhol) which has been considered...

Read More

13 Feb 2024

UP Visayas

Oysters and mussels may contain high loads of bacteria by the time they reach consumers which makes them unsafe for raw consumption

Oysters and mussels are widely cultured shellfishes in the Philippines mostly intended for local consumption. After harvesting, they are transported...

Read More

12 Feb 2024

UP Diliman, UP Mindanao

Davao City’s dual thoroughfares have good landform, light and color, and vegetation, and are relatively peaceful according to quantitative study

This study sought to assess the visual quality of dual thoroughfare streetscapes in Davao City, specifically identifying existing visual components...

Read More

08 Feb 2024

UP Manila

Vaccination significantly reduces the chances of getting long-COVID and, in some cases, improves existing long-COVID symptoms

The emergence of COVID-19 brought about a global health crisis of unprecedented proportions. As vaccination campaigns were rolled out, researchers...

Read More

07 Feb 2024

UP Los Baños

Higher education, marriage and abstaining from smoking lower risk of undernutrition whereas being female increases likelihood of overnutrition

Malnutrition in multiple forms is a public health crisis in many countries. The different forms of malnutrition affects numerous countries...

Read More

06 Feb 2024

UP Diliman

Researchers modify the Friedmann equation and predict unique signs for the current era of the universe for the first time

Moments near the Big Bang, the universe underwent rapid and accelerated expansion called inflation. Any two objects that were 1...

Read More

05 Feb 2024

UP Manila

Before intervening in SOGIE-based harassment, bystanders consider the type of harassment, risks to their safety and victim’s need for help

In the Philippines, there have been rising incidences of harassment directed at Filipinos who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans,...

Read More

02 Feb 2024

UP Cebu

Filipino students value competence the most in business leaders whereas Finnish students prefer friendliness

This article sets out to examine cultural differences in perceiving leaders’ visual and non-verbal behavior. It examines and compares how...

Read More

01 Feb 2024

UP Diliman

Embodying the Filipino “transpersonal worldview” can remind us of our relationship with nature and promote respect for it

In the indigenous Filipino belief, nature is filled with spirits. After we pass on, we return to nature, becoming anito....

Read More

31 Jan 2024

UP Diliman

The Libingan ng mga Bayani is a social space where epitaphs signal social relationships and realities

In this paper, I looked at the epitaphs found on grave markers in Libingan ng mga Bayani. I investigated how...

Read More

Research

This review article examines the meanings and materialities of human stature, from serving as a marker of human difference to shaping the socio-spatial experiences of individuals. I introduce existing perspectives on height from various disciplines, including biomedical discourses on the factors (e.g. nutrition, genetics) that determine height, economic discourses on how the average heights of populations have changed over time, sociobiological and psychological discourses that assume a pre-cultural, evolutionary “height premium”, and popular discourses on heightism and height discrimination. Drawing from a diverse range of scholarship since Saul Feldman called for a “sociology of stature” in the 1970s, I then present ways in which height and height differences have figured in various domains of human experience, from employment and education to sports and social relationships. Finally, I survey people’s attempts to become taller or shorter, and the implicit values that inform such height-making practices. What these figurations and practices show, I argue, is that height intersects with notions of race, class, gender, and beauty – but is irreducible to any of them, and is thus best viewed as a distinct, embodied form of distinction, difference, and inequality. I conclude by proposing a research agenda for future work.

Author: Gideon Lasco (Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group (KTI), Wageningen University and Research/Department of Anthropology, University of the Philippines Diliman/Development Studies Program, Ateneo de Manila University/Department of the History of Science, Harvard University)

Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13178