Doctoral research student organises summer school to Thailand and Laos

On the programmes academics, students and professionals interested in South-East Asia will be given the chance to travel through Thailand and Laos for four weeks. The trip will combine lectures and studying with experiences in the field.

There will be insights by lecturers, non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers and others who will be talking about regional and specific topics, including international development, tourism and sustainability.

Fieldtrips, excursions and fieldwork in both Thailand and Laos will offer the chance to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom. A small research project will also be undertaken as part of the trip.

So far, Claudia’s geographical research focus has been on the region of south-east Asia, specifically Thailand. Her research is in the area of tourism and international development. She currently focuses on community empowerment for development and tourism encounters in less developed countries.

She said: “The SEAS summer university enables me to put my academic interests into practice by accompanying the summer university both as a lecturer (on tourism and international development, and tourism and anthropology) as well as project coordinator.

“With StudyExperience, I would like to help participants improve their knowledge in a different way rather than the regular classroom experience of learning and studying. The collaboration with a number of different stakeholders including community members, NGO workers and lecturers will be essential to provide information on a number of topics connected to tourism and international development. This helps  participants to create a realistic impression of the countries visited.”

StudyExperience takes place from 15 July – 14 August 2012. Find out more about the programme outline and application procedure visit: www.seas.at/studyexperience