Description
For the past 35 years, physician and anthropologist Dr. Kathie Culhane-Pera has been fortunate to spend time with the residents of Khun Chang Khian, a White Hmong Village on Doi Suthep. Now Lifelong Learning Payap participants will have a unique opportunity to learn about the history, customs, culture, and challenges of this White Hmong community from Dr. Culhane-Pera.
This event consists of a lecture and an excursion to the village. Participants may choose to attend only the lecture, or both the lecture and the excursion, as follows:
Friday, December 13, 2024: Lecture by Dr. Culhane-Pera at the Lifelong Learning Payap Center, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024: Day excursion to the White Hmong village with Dr. Culhane-Pera, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
About our presenter/guide:
Kathie Culhane-Pera is an American family physician with a master’s degree in anthropology. She first went to Khun Chang Khian in 1988, when Dr. Peter Kunstadter and Dr. Leepreecha introduced her to the headman’s family. She did medical anthropology research in Thailand 1989-1992, 1999-2000, and 2012-2015. She co-edited a casebook about working with the Hmong in Minnesota called Healing By Heart: Clinical and Ethical Case Stories of Hmong Families and Western Providers.
From our presenter/guide:
“As a medical anthropologist, I have been fortunate to spend time with Khun Chang Khian villagers over the past 35 years. I have watched them grow from a village with about 500 people to a village with about 1500 people. I have watched them change as they switched from subsistence farming to cash economy, increased their education and contact with Thai society, received a paved road and electricity, and faced myriad health challenges.
I have learned a lot from them, including some aspects of White Hmong language, traditional healing practices, family’s medical decision making, funerals, New Year rituals, hemp cloth production, and agricultural practices. Mostly, I have gained friendships and acquaintances with people I value and enjoy. I look forward to sharing slides with you and traveling with you, so you can feel comfortable to join them on your own, whether buying coffee, staying overnight, or sharing Hmong New Year with them.”
Schedule for Day Excursion to Village:
- 8:30 a.m.: Depart Lifelong Learning Payap Center by van to Wat Doi Suthep and transfer to mini-truck for remainder of the ride to the village.
- 9:30 a.m.: Arrive at the Village and begin the visit led by Dr. Kathie
- 12:30 p.m.: Lunch
- 2:30 p.m.: Depart the village by mini truck and transfer to van near Wat Doi Suthep
- 3:30 p.m.: Arrive at Lifelong Learning Payap Center by van
Please note: For the excursion, participants may need to walk on some uneven ground through the Village.
COST FOR THE LECTURE ONLY: 350 THB
COST FOR THE LECTURE AND EXCURSION: 2,000 THB (includes transportation to and from village by van and mini-truck, simple lunch and drinking water in village, contribution to village, and faculty guide Dr. Kathie Culhane-Pera)
Payment due for the Excursion by 10 December