News

   Walailak University, a Global and Frontier research university grouped by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, has recently welcomed the conception of the Center for Geological and Cultural Research for Sustainable Development (GSCR). The center aims to promote collaboration to conduct multidisciplinary research in humanities, history, economics, linguistics, second language teaching, Chinese, architecture, IT, and design to build Frontier Knowledge, strength, and local pride as well as passing on cultural heritage and recognizing the value of cultural diversity.

    Unifying the academic workforce from the School of Liberal Arts, School of Management, School of Liberal Arts, School of Architecture and Design, School of Liberal Arts, School of informatics, the center shall operate as a platform for these experts to tackle complex sustainability issues through jointed studies in several areas namely geography, environment, biological forms, livelihood, tradition, custom through academic collaboration among transdisciplinary researchers, experts, and sectors both in and outside Walailak University. This collaboration is a solution to aggregated knowledge management due to working separately breeding a lack of study, bare contribution to transdisciplinary studies with the focus solely on conservation. 

  Asst. Prof. Dr. Siriporn Somboonboorana, Director of the Center for Geological and Cultural Research for Sustainable Development (GSCR)

     Asst. Prof. Dr. Siriporn Somboonboorana, Director of the Center for Geological and Cultural Research for Sustainable Development (GSCR) said, “We had been forging our path for the common good of a community and locality, yet the workforce was not unified. Even though each of us is conducting research in different areas of expertise, we all do it in alignment with the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy of King Rama the 9th”.  

    Therefore, the center is seeking collaboration by identifying and employing social capital and cultural capital-our deeply rooted cultural assets with the potential to translate into either monetary or sentimental gains. This initiative starting in 2021 primarily targets strengthening collaboration within the region expanding to a national and international scale, especially in South East Asia. For example, In Nakhon Si Thammarat, the Sichon district is home to local shadow puppet and Nora artists. This portrays art, beliefs, and traditional art, and they are passed down to young generations. Nora’s bead accessories being widely accepted in the jewelry market is another example which was under the research project The Cultural Capital Management for Developing the Area of Wat Chedi  (Ai Khai) and Peripher, funded by Program Management Unit on Area Based Development (PMU A).

     In terms of an international collaborative effort, the center is currently forging it with the countries sharing cultural commoning. In March, the center organized a virtual conference under the topic “The Making of Common in Southeast Asia Series: Commoning as Cultural Practices # 1”. Joining the event were experts from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India. The next sequence is soon to be held on 29th April 2022, conducted as part of the project “Knowledge Production Studies Initiative: Southeast Asia as Method” in cooperation with Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI), sponsored by the Program Management Unit on Brainpower (PMU-B). 

     In line with Walailak University’s aim to become a research-intensive university, the GSCR also places importance on academic publication. Some published articles included “Buluotuo Culture” The Zhuang oral traditions as performance, Etiquette, and Taboos around the World: A Geographic Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural and CustomsPolitics of alternative and self-government, each of which has been published in high impact journals and as a book. The most recent was ThaSala Street Art Restoring the Colors to the City in the Time of Pandemic, Adaptation of Vernacular Houses to Coastal Basin Environments of Pak Phanang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, representing knowledge derivation in multidiscipline. 

News by Nootchanat Sukkaew 

Division of Corporate Communication (DCC)