UA students experience Tibet
Maiko Michishita
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: News
When the Beijing Olympics torch relay began March 24, 2008, there was another matter that the worldwide media paid attention to: the human rights issues of the Tibetan people. Today, though the Beijing Olympics has ended, the struggle of the Tibetan people in exile continues.
This summer, 15 UA students and two faculty members including Geshe Dorjee, a Tibetan monk, visited the Tibetan refugee colonies in India as the first group to participate in the new study abroad program called "Tibetan in Exile Today" or TEXT. Students found the compassion and struggle of the Tibetan people by interviewing them.
"I wanted students to have the experience of sitting down and talking face to face with those who have walked all over the Himalaya Mountains, gone through the hunger strikes and worked hard to body compassion and non-violence in a daily life," said Sidney Burris, an English professor and director of Fullbright College Honors Program and Religious Studies who helped organize TEXT.
The main purpose of the program is to record an oral history of the Tibetan people in exile. Students interviewed and recorded the Tibetan people in exile and are working on making the interviews available to the public online.
"Our students learned principles of the Tibetan people's compassion and non-violence that they can carry back successfully into their individual lives, no matter what spiritual tradition they come from," Burris said.
Through their three-weeks stay in three different places in India, students talked with a variety of Tibetan people including monks, nuns, other Geshes, kids and political prisoners.
"If you show up just as a tourist who's interested, you are not going to get those people stop, sit down and talk to you," said graduate student Rachel Williams. It's such a unique opportunity only found here at the UA, she said.
Student Matthew Sample said Tibetans consistently amazed him with their ability to cope with difficult circumstances, all while maintaining their seemingly reflexive compassion and kindness. "I realized that a single system of belief can actually unify people and encourage societal well-being without broadly hindering open-mindedness," he said
This summer, 15 UA students and two faculty members including Geshe Dorjee, a Tibetan monk, visited the Tibetan refugee colonies in India as the first group to participate in the new study abroad program called "Tibetan in Exile Today" or TEXT. Students found the compassion and struggle of the Tibetan people by interviewing them.
"I wanted students to have the experience of sitting down and talking face to face with those who have walked all over the Himalaya Mountains, gone through the hunger strikes and worked hard to body compassion and non-violence in a daily life," said Sidney Burris, an English professor and director of Fullbright College Honors Program and Religious Studies who helped organize TEXT.
The main purpose of the program is to record an oral history of the Tibetan people in exile. Students interviewed and recorded the Tibetan people in exile and are working on making the interviews available to the public online.
"Our students learned principles of the Tibetan people's compassion and non-violence that they can carry back successfully into their individual lives, no matter what spiritual tradition they come from," Burris said.
Through their three-weeks stay in three different places in India, students talked with a variety of Tibetan people including monks, nuns, other Geshes, kids and political prisoners.
"If you show up just as a tourist who's interested, you are not going to get those people stop, sit down and talk to you," said graduate student Rachel Williams. It's such a unique opportunity only found here at the UA, she said.
Student Matthew Sample said Tibetans consistently amazed him with their ability to cope with difficult circumstances, all while maintaining their seemingly reflexive compassion and kindness. "I realized that a single system of belief can actually unify people and encourage societal well-being without broadly hindering open-mindedness," he said
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