Maria Ortuoste, Ph.D.

Maria Ortuoste

Department Chair and Professor of Political Science

Political Science

E-mail: maria.ortuoste@csueastbay.edu

Phone: 510-885-3840

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Expertise

Asia-Pacific regional security, South China Sea disputes, International security, law and organizations, Southeast Asian governments and regional organizations

Unique life experiences

When I was working in the Philippine government, I represented the country in various international conferences; First-gen college graduate; First in my family to get a PhD.; Studied abroad; I got to tour a commissioned U.S. nuclear submarine.

Languages spoken besides English

Tagalog, French, Spanish

Biography

Dr. Ortuoste is an expert on Southeast Asia and Indo/Asia-Pacific security, Philippine and U.S. foreign policy, international law and maritime security, military alliances and security multilateralism. She has more than twenty years of research experience in academic and policy settings. Dr. Ortuoste teaches courses on international relations and comparative politics such as Comparative Politics of Asian Governments, International Law, International Security in the 21st Century, the UN in World Community, among others. She is also the advisor to the university's Model UN Club.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Ortuoste served eight years in the Philippine Foreign Service Institute’s Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS). As a senior research analyst and, later, head of the Center, Dr. Ortuoste directed their research program which covered all aspects of Philippine foreign policy. She also regularly participated in interagency policy meetings on various topics such as the South China Sea, ASEAN, ASEAN Regional Forum, UN peacekeeping, and also represented the Center in track-two and track one-and-a-half forums which included CSCAP and ASEAN-ISIS. She earned her doctorate from Arizona State University was also a fellow at the “Advanced International Programme in Conflict Resolution” in the Department of Peace and Conflict Research of Uppsala University, Sweden (1998), the “Security Studies Executive Course” in the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii (1999), and the Women in International Security Summer Symposium in Georgetown University (2006). Dr. Ortuoste is originally from the Philippines and received her M.A. International Studies and B.A. Journalism degrees from the University of the Philippines.

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