Research Overview
For my PhD project, I worked on the history of Marian devotions in Luzon in the context of the early modern Spanish Philippines. In my dissertation, I was able to a) trace the development and growth of Marian devotion among the local population in relation to social changes, such as the creation of towns and social identities; b) locate and map Marian shrines established by different Spanish missionaries from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century across the island of Luzon; and c) analyze geographical patterns in the miracle sites and devotional ritual practices attributed to the Virgin Mary by the indigenous population of these spaces.
Building on this project, my current research focuses on geoaesthetics in relation to these sacred icons. My goal is to understand how their production was influenced by socio-political contexts and prevailing environmental conditions (geological, botanical and climatic realities) surrounding these artworks. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the local and transpacific dynamism of the seventeenth and eighteenth century Philippines and the global connections of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade.
In July 2026, I got accepted to join the Prints Across the Pacific 1565 – 1815 project by the Connecting Art Histories initiative organized by the Getty Foundation. The project is a collaborative series of travel seminars focusing on the transregional print culture, book history, and material exchanges linked to the Manila - Acapulco Galleon trade. My contribution to this project will be the documentation and investigation of printed versions of Marian icons such as those found in prayerbooks made and traded across the Pacific.
Academic interests
My research interest lies in the production and consumption of sacred art in the early modern Spanish Philippines specially in connection to the transpacific realities of the Philippines during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. My work on icons and miracle narratives attributed to them hopes to contribute, to our understanding of the local worldviews, socio-political realities and environmental conditions that surround these icons.
Background
Assistant Professor - History Department, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Asia & the Pacific, Pearl Drive Ortigas Center, Pasig City, 1605, Philippines (2024 - 2026)
Department Chair - History Department, College of Arts & Sciences, University of Asia & the Pacific, Pearl Drive Ortigas Center, Pasig City, 1605, Philippines (2023 - 2026)
Phd in History, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy University of the Philippines – Diliman. Dissertation Title: “Marian Devotions in Luzon: Narratives of Identity and Place, 1603 – 1788”
Master of Arts in Humanities, University of Asia and the Pacific, Pasig City, Philippines
Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, University of Asia and the Pacific, Pasig City, Philippines
Awards
2018 3rd Prize. 1st Virginia Benitez Licuanan Award for History Writing: Women in Philippine History Essay Writing Contest. “The Historian as a Woman: A Biographical and Historiographical Essay on Guadalupe Fores-Ganzon” Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings & Department of History, Ateneo de Manila University. 24 March 2018.
2017 Fellow. Asian Research Institute, National University Singapore. 12th Singapore Graduate Forum on Southeast Asian Studies. July 24 – 27, 2017.
2016 Writeshop Fellow. The 2016 TWSC Writeshop Third World Studies Center, Lower Ground Floor, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, Palma Hall, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. November 7-9, 2016.
Publications
- Nito, Mary Josefti C. “The Local and Locale in the Nineteenth Century Novenarios to the Nuestra Señora de La Paz Y Buen Viaje of Antipolo, Philippines”. In The Filipino worldview through art, images, and objects. From indigenous cultures to the 19th century. Edited by Ruel Pagunsan and Krystl Obispado. Roma Tre Press, Enredars – UPO, 2025. https://rio.upo.es/entities/publication/c040be93-182c-49a5-b0d8-7c379d1c7183.
- Nito, Mary Josefti C. “The Ordinary & Extraordinary in the Seventeenth-century Manila: Miracles of the Nuestra Señora de Guia of Ermita”. In Everyday Life in the Philippines, 1657 – 1699: Selections from the Manuscript of Juan de Paz. Edited by Norah L.A. Gharala, Marya Svetlana T. Camacho and Juan O. Mesquida. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81493-8_5
- Nito, Mary Josefti C. “Faith, Place, and Resistance: Colonial Pilgrimage Practice and the Landscape of Resistance”. CAS Review (UA&P – CAS). Volume 13, No. 1. December 2024, 11 – 23.
- Nito, Mary Josefti C. “The Nuestra Señora de la Inmaculada Concepcion of Longos, Laguna: Devotion and Miracles in the late Seventeenth Century Spanish Philippines”. Maria: A Journal of Marian Studies. Volume 4, No. 1. May 2024. https://www.marianstudies.ac.uk/maria-new-series-vol-4-1-may
- Nito, Mary Josefti C. “Folk Devotion in the Waterscape of the Pasig River: The 1653 and 1748 Fluvial Processions of the Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje” BANWAAN: The Philippine Journal of Folklore. Volume 1, No. 1 December 30, 2021.
- Nito, Mary Josefti C. “Colonizing Sacred Spaces: Geography of Belief, Local Histories and Marian Historiographies” Filipinas: Journal of the Philippine Studies Association, Inc. Volume 3, January 1, 2020.