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St. Olaf celebrates 40-year partnership with Chiang Mai

By Linnae Stole '10
November 17, 2008

In the fall of 1968, 20 St. Olaf students departed on the first Global Semester, which included taking a course on education and cultural change at Chiang Mai University in Thailand. Forty years later, St. Olaf students are still traveling to and studying at Chiang Mai, which since 1971 has been part of the Term in Asia program.

ChiangMai
St. Olaf College President David R. Anderson '74 (left) shakes hands with Pongsak Angkasith, president of Chiang Mai University, during a celebration of the 40-year partnership between the colleges.
To recognize the 40-year connection between the colleges, President David R. Anderson '74 recently traveled to Chiang Mai, along with his spouse, Priscilla Paton; Eric Lund, professor of religion and director of International and Off-Campus Studies; Michael Stitsworth, vice president for Advancement and College Relations; and Kathy Tuma, associate director of International and Off-Campus Studies. While there, they participated in a public ceremony recognizing the importance of the connection to both establishments, and Anderson signed a new five-year agreement to continue the partnership. The group was also able to meet with St. Olaf faculty and students residing in Chiang Mai as part of Term in Asia, including field supervisors John Barbour, professor of religion, and Meg Ojala, professor of art.

"Our 40-year partnership with Chiang Mai University has resulted in a deep relationship between our institutions," Anderson says. "So many St. Olaf students and faculty have traveled to Chiang Mai, and so many CMU faculty have held visiting appointments at St. Olaf, that the bond between our institutions has become a personal one based on familiarity, trust, and friendship. Our partnership with CMU is an important component of the global perspective that the college incorporates into a St. Olaf education, and it's clear that it remains on a solid footing."

An invaluable partnership
While the components of Term in Asia (formerly known as Term in the Far East) have evolved in response to changing world situations, the visit to Chiang Mai has remained the core of the program. Students currently spend two-and-a-half months in Thailand, taking two courses, one on Thai language and another on Thai culture and society, from CMU professors. To further enhance their language skills and cross-cultural understanding, St. Olaf students are housed with Thai families for the duration of their stay.

Throughout its existence, the partnership between St. Olaf and Chiang Mai has proved invaluable to both institutions. Along with St. Olaf students studying at Chiang Mai on the Term in Asia program, the agreement stipulates that each year, two students from Chiang Mai spend a year studying at St. Olaf. Two St. Olaf alumni, Rome Chiranukrom '84 and Professor Wilailak Saraithong '81, originally came to campus through this exchange and stayed on to receive degrees. Chiranukrom is now the dean of the faculty of Humanities at CMU, and Saraithong has a position there as a professor of English, providing a worthwhile connection between the institutions.

A faculty member from CMU also comes to St. Olaf annually as a visiting scholar, remaining here anywhere from eight weeks to a full semester. Separate from the Term in Asia program, several St. Olaf alumni have gone on to spend a year or more teaching English at CMU.

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.