Luang Prabang Field Trip

Dr. Melvin Chen, Faculty Member

The NTU-USP field trip to Luang Prabang (Dec 2019) was the final overseas trip I had before the onset of COVID-19 and various COVID-19-induced travel restrictions. I therefore remember this particular trip with especial fondness and certainly view it through rose-tinted glasses. In this trip, my students and I were able to visit a monastic school for novice Buddhist monks as part of their research project. The photo perfectly encapsulates the carefree and idyllic nature of life before COVID-19, while its very possibility underscores the privilege and honour to which participants of this programme can lay claim. After all, not everyone will be able to offer an inside look at Laotian monastic culture. The very possibility of this photo at once underscores the expansive nature of possibilities (perspectives, physical spaces, and disciplinary outlooks traversed) within the programme and the concomitant need to remain humble, grounded, and grateful for these possibilities.