Students Explore Southeast Asia

Posted June 20, 2016

The sun beats down by the River Kwai in Thailand. A low hum fills the space as a fan oscillates under the awning, providing refuge from the 98 degree heat. Students gather with notebooks, laptops, and plenty of water to discuss the impact of water security in Thai politics. It's easy to see the importance of the Mekong River when you visit the farming communities that depend on it's resources to survive. 

Armed with a video camera and a hunger for new experiences, students on Georgia Tech's Southeast Asia Study Abroad program set out to capture the essense of each country they explored in a documentary style report (see below). 

Thailand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usCLVYCdZXA&feature=youtu.be

Vietnam: 

Play Video

Cambodia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE_9MLjvcgY&feature=youtu.be  

Students have spent the past seven weeks trekking across Southeast Asia - Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Singapore - while earning 9 credit hours in International Affairs. The program focuses on non-traditional security issues ranging from piracy to human trafficking to water sarcity, and students are immersed in the local culture. Each of the four states represent varying levels of development from the small farming villages on the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, to the technology-driven urban city-state of Sinagpore. 

The program emphasizes a hands-on approach to studying international affairs and, by exploring the region's rich and turbulent history, students are able to critically analyze non-traditional security issues through a non-Western perspective. Reading discussions are held by rivers, in small villages, and on bus rides. Lectures are conducted at sight visits such as the Royal Palace in Thailand and the Killing Fields in Cambodia. Briefings occured at local NGOs and universities. The students create documentaries to embody each of the countries visited, and, at the end of the program, run a simulation to demonstrate the potential for diplomacy in the region.

Katja Weber, professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and program director for the Southeast Asia Study Abroad Program, noted that a highlight of the program this year was a visit to the University of Cambodia with Travis Mitchell, former Nunn School student and current faculty member. Weber gave a lecture on the “EU's Changing Role in Southeast Asia”, and then the students played traditional Cambodian games with Cambodian students.

The Southeast Asia Study Abroad Program is offered through the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and is open to both undergraduate and graduate students of all academic disciplines.