News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE SEPTEMBER 16, 2005

SENAPATI STUDIES CULTURE IN THAILAND

TIFTON- Dr. Sukanya Senapati, Associate Professor of English at Abraham Baldwin College, traveled to Thailand for a month this summer to study the culture of the country, as well as the religion of Buddhism.

Senapati spent from June 30 – July 28 embracing the culture along with professors from within the divisions of Humanities and Social Science from the University of Georgia System colleges and universities.

Some high school teachers from the surrounding areas also participated in the trip.

“The Fulbright-Hays Federal Grant Program paid for 60 percent of the trip, and ABAC paid for the other forty percent,” Senapati said. “I have been on one of these trips through the Fulbright-Hays program before to Israel and Egypt and really loved it.”

The goal of Senapati’s trip was to learn more about Buddhism and to observe gender relations in the country. “The system there has a monarchy, but it is both matriarchal and patriarchal. The women run the household and family businesses. They run the economy. Yet the men are the ones who own the property. So in theory, the system is patriarchal but in practice it is matriarchal,” Senapati said.

“The Thai people live the same fast-paced lifestyle as Americans, but are able to be calm about it. They practice their old traditions while keeping up with all the progress going on in the country,” Senapati said.

The Thai people are a mix of Mon, Khmer and Thai, but they all consider themselves as Thai. “It’s a living multicultural society,” Senapati said.

“There is no sense of greed among the people. I think that is partly because all Thai men have to go through monk hood, even if it’s just for a month,” Senapati said. Charities pay for all Thai men to attend a period of monk hood and any money raised by the monks while in the monastery goes to the temples.

The Thai culture is a very respectful and courteous one. The people have reverence for all things spiritual and only the highest regard for their king and queen. “There are houses of reverence on every street corner, where offerings are made in the form of donations or food,” Senapati said. “At the end of the day all those offerings are given to the less fortunate. There is also a picture of the king and queen on every block.”

“I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences in Thailand. It is a place where your senses are constantly stimulated, and there is never a dull moment,” Senapati said.

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