Haile and Knowles Lead Dialogues of Civilization Trips
Travel Log
As a global university, Northeastern offers undergraduate students the opportunity to participate in Dialogues of Civilization: immersive, faculty-led, four to six-week programs held each summer in more than 80 countries that blend academics with cross-cultural engagement. Last summer, professors Andrew Haile and Elizabeth Knowles, who teach in the law school’s Legal Skills in Social Context program, shared their depth of experience and expertise with the Dialogues of Civilization program: Haile co-led a trip to the Pacific Northwest, and Knowles led a group to Thailand.
Professor Andrew Haile (left) with students on a five-day backpacking expedition through Olympic National Park. Students and faculty disconnected from electronics and focused on creating a tangible connection to different philosophies concerning the forest.
In the Ancient Forests dialogue, students explored the legal and philosophical frameworks of protecting old-growth forests: forests that have not been logged since European settlement of North America. The in-depth dialogue brought together philosophy, law, policy and the perspectives of those who live in and rely on such forests, including local First Nation communites, loggers and environmentalists. “The issue of old-growth forests, which probably seems foreign or unknown to people on the East Coast, is hugely controversial in the Pacific Northwest,” said Haile. “On the trip, we really talked through the issues and spoke to people coming from all sides.”
Professor Elizabeth Knowles (front row, purple scarf) arranged for students to immerse themselves in Thailand by participating in a meditation retreat, hiking through Doi Inthanon National Park, feeding and playing with rescued elephants at the Kanta Elephant Sanctuary, taking cooking lessons and visiting cultural treasures, including the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
Knowles designed and taught the course Finding Refuge in the World and the Self: Asylum and Refugee Law and the History and Practice of Mindfulness Meditation. The curriculum introduced students to asylum law in the United States and to refugee and human rights programs in Thailand and explored mindfulness teachings and meditation practices in temples and monasteries.
Through classroom lectures and field visits to advocacy organizations, students learned about critical issues affecting the largest refugee populations in Thailand. “Students were able to compare the human rights frameworks available in the United States and Thailand,” said Knowles. As a culmination to the mindfulness part of the course, students stayed for three days at the Pa Pae Meditation Center in the hills of Pai. “We also experienced the richness of Thai art, food, culture and architecture and Thailand’s resplendent natural beauty.”
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