Bryan Levina Viray

Bryan Levina Viray is currently a PhD Candidate (Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Research) at the Australian National University's Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies (CHMS), under the supervision of the Centre's current Director, Professor Laurajane Smith, PhD. Bryan has been awarded a prestigious International University Research Scholarship and Higher Degree Research (HDR) Fee Remission Merit Scholarship to undertake his PhD.

Key to Bryan’s PhD research question is the understanding of commemoration as a form of intangible heritage and the implications of this for collective memory. Bryan’s dissertation, Commemoration as Intangible Heritage: Performing Collective Memories of the Fil-Am War, investigates how the locals of Marinduque, Philippines commemorate the Battle of Paye (in Boac town) and the Battle of Pulang Lupa (in Torrijos town) in the context of the Philippine-American War. The research aims to critically examine how commemorations can shed light on the contested, problematic and still evolving terrain of the Philippine-American War. Also, Bryan will analyze the generation, transmission, and performance of collective memories of local communities through commemorative activities and relate how these performances can expand the understanding of intangible cultural heritage.

Bryan works in the area of ethnochoreology/anthropology of dance, critical heritage studies, theatre and performance studies. His essays about dance ritual, cultural performance, protest theatre in the Philippines, performance archive, and decolonizing performance pedagogies have been presented and published in local and international conferences and journals. His most recent essay entitled "Politics of Intervention in the Tubong Tradition of Marinduque" was published in the 2021 Special Issue on Theatre and Politics of the Scopus-listed journal Comunicazioni Sociali: Journal of Media, Performing Arts, and Cultural Studies, published by Vita Pensiero of the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuoro in Milan, Italy.

He received research dissemination grants, travel grants, and scholarships from various institutions like the UP System, UP Diliman, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, IFTR-Asian Theatre Working Group, Commission on Higher Education, Nusantara Performing Arts Research Center in Malaysia, The Japan Foundation Manila, Japan Student Services Organization, the European Union, and The Australian National University, to present papers at the local and international conferences, pursue short study programs, finish an Erasmus Mundus graduate (MA Choreomundus) program, and obtain a PhD degree.

Bryan works as an Assistant Professor (currently on study leave) at the University of the Philippines Diliman's College of Arts and Letters, Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts (DSCTA). He served as Managing Director of Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (2015-2018); Project Development Associate of UP Theatre Complex (2017-2018) and UP Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (2018-2021). He is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Marinduque State College's Sentro ng Wika at Kultura (SWK) and Office of Media and International Affairs (OMIA) (July-September 2022). He is an awardee of the One UP Faculty Grant (FG) Award in Performance Studies (Ethnochoreology) for Outstanding Teaching and Creative Work (2022-2024) and One UP Faculty Grant (FG) Award in Theatre (Performance Studies) for Outstanding Teaching and Creative Work (2019-2021) in UP Diliman.

Post: Room 1109, Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts,

Pavilion 1 Palma Hall, Quirino Street, College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101

Office No.: 924-3224, 981-8500 local 2133

Email: blviray@up.edu.ph