From 8 July to 2 August 2024, the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) and the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, hosted the 4th Summer School on “Borderland: Critical Approaches to Field Research and Engagement in the Global South.” The course offered students the chance to critically engage with the research process, epistemologies, and ethics, with a specific focus on the Global South.
Focused on migration, mobilities, and immobilities, the course themes are complement each other, reinforcing learning and meaningful engagement. Students were immersed in the context for field engagement and research proposal development through readings, lectures, and experiential activities. Working closely with NGOs and research programs, they gained “real-world” experience that informed their critical perspectives on research.
This year’s summer school gathered 27 students from six universities, including the University of Copenhagen, Peking University, Chiang Mai University, the University of Cambridge, the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, and the University of California, Berkeley. Participants came from various disciplines, such as Social Sciences, Anthropology, Southeast Asian Studies, Geography, Public Health, Education, Biomedical Sciences, English, and World History, creating a rich academic atmosphere for researching borderland issues.
This year students took part in placements in 11 NGOs working on borderland issues in and around Chiang Mai, gaining valuable experience and insights working on their host organizations’ critical projects, research, or policy advocacy. Students also gained a deeper appreciation of the challenges facing researchers, communities, and activists working on vital issues.
Students drafted short but well-thought-through research proposals based on their field engagement and presented their results on the last day of the summer school in a public forum on 2 August 2024, using mediums such as film, documentary, and short papers demonstrating the learning goal of the summer school: “to engage with community groups and organizations at the forefront of relevant issues, collaborating on research, policy development, community-centered initiatives, advocacy efforts, and the co-creation of knowledge.”
