Dr. Colleen Pilgrim is currently on a three-week research trip to Cambodia as a part of several Overseas Faculty Development Seminars with The Council for American Overseas Research Centers.
To promote global curriculum in the classroom, Schoolcraft College full-time professor Dr. Colleen Pilgrim has packed her bags and traveled across the globe to study the challenges facing the people of Cambodia and southeast Asia.
Pilgrim is currently on a three-week research trip to Cambodia as a part of several Overseas Faculty Development Seminars with The Council for American Overseas Research Centers. Pilgrim, a Psychology professor, will study political and climate change in the southeastern Asian nation, through the end of the month.
“My current travel is a developmental seminar through CAORC and their partners the Center for Kmer Studies and the Inya Institute,” Pilgrim said. “Our group of fifteen faculty members from across the United States will attend lectures, meetings with media professionals, civil society and environmental organizations, and site visits across Cambodia. We will explore Cambodia’s culture, history, and natural habitats with visits to the capital city of Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reip, Ankor Wat, and the Tonle Sap Lake.”
The trip was originally planned for spring of 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the military coup in Myanmar. Pilgrim is traveling with other educators from community colleges and minority-serving institutions.
The seminar focuses on politics and climate change in Southeast Asia and will allow Pilgrim to better understand the challenges faced by local communities, leaders, and politicians. Spending time in the country, she said, will help educate her on the current conditions across the globe and give her more knowledge to bring back to the College to share with her students.
“The Myanmar and Cambodian people have suffered trauma from war and conflict, and environmental disasters, and it has the potential to worsen because of climate change,” Pilgrim said. “My participation in the seminar will allow me to better understand the global prevalence of mental health issues and how economic, political, social, cultural, and other environmental factors impact well-being.”
This is the most-recent academic trip for Pilgrim, who has also traveled to Colombia, eastern Europe, Turkey, and Indonesia for research.
As the lone psychologist on the research trip, Pilgrim said she’s looking forward to working with other researchers from different disciplines and different institutions across the United States.
Her travels will also support the educational works of the Schoolcraft College International Institute, where she serves as editor of their newsletter.
“My experiences this summer in Cambodia allow me to better educate myself on current conditions across the globe and address those issues in my classroom and across campus in our curriculum. A major aim of the seminar is to better understand ‘To what extent can Cambodia’s and Myanmar’s civil society mobilize against these challenges, and by what means?’” she said. “Information will be infused into my classroom curriculum as well as initiatives with other colleagues and the Schoolcraft College International Institute.”