Known as the Harvard of Thailand, Chulalongkorn is the oldest and most prestigious university in the country. It was established by King Rama V (ruled: 1868-1910), whose name was Chulalongkorn and who donated the land for the establishment of the institution. The institution's color is pink. The reason: each day of the week in Thailand is associated with a different color. Since Chulalongkorn was born on Tuesday, for which pink is the designated color, the university adopted it as its primary hue. The insignia of the university is also related to King Rama V - it is his royal symbol.
Our experience at Chula was really special. We spent our time in the Faculty (meaning "School" or "Department") of Education. Our primary contact person and host, Dr. Sornnate, organized a full schedule of activities for our two weeks on campus, ranging from several formal presentations (on issues such as faculty development, curriculum, student activities, internationalization, and international partnerships) to informal discussions with graduate and undergraduate classes. We also had meetings with faculty within the Faculty of Education, the Vice President for Student Affairs for the entire institution, and the Deputy Director of the International Affairs office.
I'm glad to say that I have learned so much through experiencing academia in another part of the world - in this case, Thailand. Getting to know the staff and students we interacted with was such a treat. In addition, I enjoyed seeking to understand the relationships and behaviors I observed, from a sociological perspective. How do individuals come to understand the legitimate roles and behaviors of a given sub-culture? How are individuals impacted by the multiple realities of culture - national, social, religious, academic - that exist within social settings? It was great fun to keep these realities in mind as I observed classes, meetings, and discussions, and took part in them, as well.
Especially meaningful to our experience were five students in the higher education doctoral program at Chula. Together with Dr. Sornnate, they took good care of us every day and we spent lots of time together, whether preparing for presentations, attending various meetings, walking across campus from one place to another, or chatting informally in the graduate lounge (which also served as the ‘home base’ for our team). We also ate many meals together, which our hosts invariably paid for. Mo, Ajan A., Chai, Eddie, and Thanasiri were gracious and kind, patient, fun and entertaining, and always interesting to talk with about the pressing issues of higher education, both in the US and in Thailand. These relationships are without a doubt one of the highlights of this experience.
The upload feature is acting cranky, so the order of the pictures below is not how I’d like it, but you get the idea.
Brief introduction to our ur team: GaoLing, Brittany, and me
The Chulalongkorn University campus is a lovely green space in the midst of busy Bangkok. Below you can see a few of the older buildings, in Thai-style architecture, rising above the trees.
