Chiang Mai, Thailand

Academics

ELIGIBILITY
To apply, you must be a currently enrolled, degree-seeking, undergraduate UW-Eau Claire student. You must be in good academic standing and have a minimum 2.5 cumulative resident GPA. You may apply as a freshman but must have sophomore standing when the program begins.

IMPORTANT INFO: NON-U.S. CITIZENS
Previous applicants who needed a refugee travel document to leave the United States found that USCIS took several months or more to process their application. Please contact the USCIS regarding the current processing time.

COURSES
The summer 2010 curriculum has changed. The new summer program, offered by Payap University, is divided into two three-week sessions. During each three-week session, you will take one three-credit course, for total of six credits on this summer program. You will be taking courses with students from UW-Eau Claire as well as other North American universities.

During the first three-week session all students will take Cultural Foundations of Thai Society (UWEC Anthropology Elective Lower Division GE 3).

During the second three-week session, students will choose an elective course. The following courses are scheduled to be offered in summer 2010:

Women and Buddhism in Thailand
(UWEC Religion Elective Lower Division, GE 4)
This course will explore the religious lives of lay women and female
renouncers in various Buddhist societies, particularly Thailand. We will begin
by examining stories by and about women in early Indian Buddhism. This will
entail an analysis of early Buddhist views on sexuality and spirituality and an
analysis of the sacred biographies of early Buddhist nuns. We will then turn
our attention to stories about women’s religious lives in the various schools of
Buddhism. We will explore stories about female bodhisattvas in Mahayana
Buddhism, yoginis and tantric adepts in Vajrayana Buddhism, and powerful
goddesses and laywomen in the Theravada tradition. Lastly, we will examine
some of the contemporary issues concerning women and Buddhism, including
the relatively low status of contemporary Buddhist nuns, the call to restore
the bhikkhuni (fully ordained nun) order in Thailand, and the role of women in
new Buddhist movements.

Queer Thailand: Culture, Society & Sexual Identity
(UWEC Sociology Elective Lower Division)
Gays, Girls, Gender Bending, Ganja, and Gambling. Thailand is a country of
many paradoxes. As a Buddhist Kingdom with the world's longest reigning
monarch, Thailand somehow harmoniously balances contemporary sexual
freedoms with traditional values. Known around the world as a "Gay
Paradise," Thailand provides an excellent location to study and explore variant
gender identities and expressions -- a kind of "Asian Mystique"-- which
challenges many from the West.
As anyone who comes to Thailand soon discovers, gender and sexuality
are in a constant state of change as fluid, contingent and adaptable
performances. Androgyny permeates and possibilities abound. Globalization,
tourism, technology, and the information society have all impacted Thailand
in recent decades to create a fascinating space within which to explore
reformed, emergent and traditional expressions of gender and sexuality. It is
within this gendered space of "Queer Thailand," with its many myths and
mystiques, that this course journeys.
This course will include an introduction to gender/queer theory and
proceed to use case studies of gender performance in Thailand to provide a
fascinating comparative study for Gender/Sexuality/Women's Studies students
and/or others with open minds that wish to explore this topic. Although
previous coursework in gender studies will prove helpful, it is not a
prerequisite for this class. Fieldtrips and interaction with Thai LGBTQ students
and the activist NGO community will enhance classroom learning.

Dictatorship and Democratization in Southeast Asia
(UWEC Political Science Elective Lower Division)
Dictatorship has long been prevalent in the countries of Southeast Asia. Some
countries in the region are in the process of democratization. This course
looks at why some countries in Southeast Asia are moving toward pluralism
while others seem at a standstill. To what extent does democracy contend
with autocracy? To what extent do countries in Southeast Asia even possess a
democracy relative to other countries in the world? Exactly how consolidated
is pluralism today and how imbedded are civil liberties in the region? What
accounts for insurgencies in Southeast Asia? What is the situation of
Southeast Asian ethnic minorities? What is the role of the military in
Southeast Asia? How developed are electoral systems and political parties in
the region? How protected are human rights? This course will study these
questions.

Sustainable Development in Southeast Asia
(UWEC Geography Elective Lower Division, GE 3)
Sustainable Development meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs within
the confines of Southeast Asia and specific to the Greater Mekong Sub-region.
This multi-disciplinary program integrates the social science disciplines of
geography, sociology, political science, economics and law with natural
science. Students will be introduced to the complexities of development
processes and problems in the Mekong Sub-region, which result from the
impact in changes in cultural and political movements, government legislation,
economic and trade relations, resource use and health issues. A highlight of
this program will be a 7-day field excursion to Yunnan Province in southern
China. Yunnan and Guangxi provinces are now considered to be part of the
Greater Mekong Sub-Region and this will allow students to compare southern
China and Northern Thailand. The trip to China from Chiang Saen (east of
Chiang Rai) will be by boat. This experience demonstrates the importance of
the Mekong River and the connections between southern China and SE Asia.
Note: Students are responsible for the cost of their tourist visa to China which
they should apply for before the start of the program.

Living Arts: Thai Dance and Music
(UWEC Music Elective Lower Division, GE 4)
This course is a study of the musical traditions of Thailand that involve dance,
drama, religion and social structure as well as some comparative perspectives
of cultures in Asia that are related to music. This is achieved through an
exploration of the origins and traditions of Thai drama and dance. Students
will learn a variety of traditional Thai dances, and will perform in full costume.
The course also explores the ancient art of playing traditional Thai musical
instruments. This involves instruction on playing positions, the fundamentals
of Thai music and Thai notation, tuning, and scales. Discussion on
comparative perspectives of the various traditional musical instruments,
songs, ritual practices, and the development of music of Thai ethnic groups
will round out this very interactive study experience.

Globalization and Economic Development in Southeast Asia
(UWEC Economics Elective Lower Division, GE 3)
Southeast Asia has emerged, during the last decades of the 20th century, and
continues in the early part of the 21st century, as an important player in the
global arena. The nations in the region encompass the whole spectrum of
economic development and political ideologies, ranging from the wealthier to
the poorest country, from the most populous Muslim state to the small
landlocked, from established market system to ones undergoing
transformation from central planning to private market, from democracies to
one-party states. This course is designed to provide the students with a
survey of the countries in this strategically important region. It begins with a
basic overview of the political and economic history of the area. The course
then proceeds to examine the underlying causes of this economic emergence.
It will also investigate some issues that are relevant to the whole region,
including the reliance on tourism as a development strategy, the role of the
state sector, and the cause and consequence of the Asian financial crisis of
the late 1990’s. While the focus of the course is on economics, other aspects
of the process known as globalization will also be examined.

Globalization and Social Change in Southeast Asia
(UWEC Sociology Elective Lower Division)
This course explores the dynamism of Southeast Asia with special attention to
the interplay between social change and development in an era of increasing
globalization. Major themes include the region's post-Cold War economic
boom and crisis, debates over development, globalization, and cultural
responses to globalization. Emphasizing the comparative method, the course
accentuates the diversity of experiences in Southeast Asia, not only from
country to country and from one political system to another, but also between
urban and rural areas, older and younger generations, and the differing
religious contexts within and between countries. Course includes site visits
within Thailand and requires students to develop papers from field
observations and study.

FOREIGN CULTURE
The program itself fulfills 1/3 of the UW-Eau Claire Foreign Culture requirement.

ACADEMIC CALENDAR
The program runs from mid-June to the end of July.