INTERNATIONALISATION

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INTERNATIONALISATION

Internalisation is one of the key agendas in the institute’s strategic plan, aiming to support three main missions of Mahidol University – research, education and academic services – into an international standard in the area of language and cultural studies. Through international collaboration with partner institutions around the globe, RILCA brings knowledge and good practices achieved from research onto implementation in various forms of academic activities and corporate social responsibility at the societal and community levels to improve wellbeing of populations from diverse backgrounds regardless of their ethnic, linguistic and cultural backgrounds, driving towards sustainable development goals (SDGs).

RESEARCH

Research is conducted in an international setting among diverse groups of partners and participants, such as the following internationally renowned institutions.

  • UNESCO
  • Summer Institute of Linguistics International
  • School of Oriental and African Studies

Numerable research projects are cross-nationally funded enabling international visibility and mobility.

RILCA Fellowship enables conducting of research related to Asia and area studies in cooperation with the academic staff of the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, resulting as publications in internationally renowned academic journals or publication series. The internationally recruited fellows also assist the institute in the planning of research funding applications, projects, units and other internationalisation activities, contributing to the improvement of an international academic cooperation network.

Centre for Language Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages is responsible for serving as a center of education, study, and ideas exchange for revitalizing ethnic languages for local and foreign academia. The main mission is to study, record languages and cultures through research, publication of dictionaries, folk tales, folk music and to coordinate with communities to hold activities for the revitalization of languages and cultures to raise awareness and interest. Research focuses on recording-collecting languages, language restoration and local wisdom of ethnic groups in Thailand and bilingual education. Notable achievements include Ethnolinguistic mapping of Thailand, and Endangered languages.

Centre for Bharat Studies aims to be the Center of Excellence in the field of Indian Studies in the region, driving research conduct on India to give knowledge and utilize in discipline of Master’s degree in cultural studies at RILCA. Academic activities were arranged under name of “Bharat Studies Forum” in form of small books transcribed from lectures of experts in India studies, exchange of experts between RILCA and other institutions “India Talk” , publish Bilingual News Letter (English-Thai) named “India Calling” in cooperation with Thai, India and ASEAN scholars, annual seminar on Indian Ideas and Thoughts organized annually and jointly by RILCA and the Indian Embassy.

Research projects

  • Unexplored Health and cultural: Challenged and opportunities in the aged care for the transnational retirement industry in Thailand
  • Selling Thai-ness to Westerners: the social and development impacts of marketing “Thai-ness” on entrepreneurs and people who work in the small-scale service sector, Newton Advanced Fellowship with University of Sussex and Thailand Research Fund
  • Selling Thai-ness to Westerners: the social and development impacts of marketing “Thai-ness” on entrepreneurs and people who work in the small-scale service sector, Thailand Research Find together with Newton Advanced Fellowship and University of Sussex

Research publications/ International publication/ publications co-authored with international partners

  • Linguistically-limited intercultural adaptations of independent Western migrants in Thailand: “Taxi Thai” communication strategy
    Doungphummes, N. and Zarchi, A.
  • Scale-mediated marginalisation of Myanmar jewellers in China during the live-streaming trade era.
    Tingshu, Z. & Meyer, M.
  • Listening Comprehension: The Role of Morphological Knowledge
    Hasan, K., & Nomnian, S.
  • Establishing a Sprachbund in the Western Lingnan region: conceptual and methodological issues
    Szeto, P. & Yurayong, C.
  • Ethnic content integration and local curriculum in Myanmar
    ANUI & Arphattananon, T.
  • Participatory engagement for sustainable innovation in Karen communities
    Yamabhai, J., Knoop, R., & Cusripituck, P.
  • Sinitic as a typological sandwich: Revisiting the notions of Altaicization and Taicization.
    Szeto, P. Y., & Yurayong, C.
  • Community archiving of ethnic groups in Thailand
    Ungsitipoonporn, S., Buachut W., Vera F., & Mandana S.

EDUCATION

Education is planned and designed to meet an international standard of ASEAN University Network Quality Assurance programme. Teaching activities involve researchers and instructors from international backgrounds in partnership with numerous domestic and foreign higher education institutions. Incoming and outgoing students make use of an existing broad international network and mobility programmes to gain academic experience essential for their future career be it in academia or elsewhere. Our close international partners in the organisation and development of curricula include the following foreign partners.

  • University of Sussex
  • University of Helsinki
  • Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
  • Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” East Java University
  • De La Salle University
  • La Trobe University

ACADEMIC SERVICES

Academic Services target diverse groups of customers from domestic to international audience with the underlying philosophy of lifelong learning. MU Thai Test is driving towards serving as a leading Thai language proficiency examination programme for international learners of the Thai language. International conferences run annually, gathering scholars in the field of languages and cultures around the world to build synergy in high quality research and education. Our notable activities include the following services.

  • RILCA conferences
  • ASEAN +3
  • Online Global Campus
  • MU Thai Test
  • Thai language for foreigners
  • Summer school in language and writing
  • Thai cooking class
  • Yoga and Ayurveda

PARTNERSHIP

A. Map of partnerships

MoU

Since 2017

  • 2017 – 2022 | Literature, Vietnam Academy of Social Science (Vietnam)
  • 2017 – 2022 | Yunnan University (China)

Since 2018

  • 2018 – 2021 | College of Hakka Studies, National Chiao Tung University (TW) … in renewing process
  • 2018 – 2021 | Department of Minority languages and cultures, Minzu University of China (China) … in renewing process
  • 2018 – 2021 | Faculty of Asian Languages and Cultures, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (China) … in renewing process
  • 2018 – 2021 | Gansu Normal University for Nationalities (China) … in renewing process
  • 2018 – 2023 | School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (UK)

Since 2019

  • 2019 – 2022 | Yunnan University of Finance and Economics (China)
  • 2019 – 2024 | Filipino Department, College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University (PH)
  • 2019 – 2024 | SIL International (NGO)
  • 2019 – 2024 | United International University (Bangladesh)
  • 2019 – 2024 | University of Malaya (Malaysia)
  • 2019 – 2024 | Yunnan Minzu University (China)

Since 2021

  • 2021 – 2023 | De Montfort University (UK)
  • 2021 – 2026 | Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, Universite libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
  • 2021 – 2026 | Qujing Normal University (China)

Since 2022

  • 2022 – 2025 | Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Pembangunan National Veteran Jawa Timur University (Indonesia)
  • 2022 – 2025 | Sichuan International Studies University (China)
  • 2022 – 2027 | Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan)
  • The university of social sciences and humanities Vietnam national university of Ho Chi Min City (Vietnam) … in signing process

B. Mobility

Inbound students – Over 12 weeks course on Thai language and cultures in June 2019- February 2020

  1. Yunnan University, People’s republic of China – 20 students
  2. Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, People’s republic of China – 3 students
  3. Sichuan International Studies University, People’s republic of China – 3 students
  4. Yunnan Minzu University, People’s republic of China – 62 students

Inbound students – Less than 12 weeks course on Thai language and cultures in June 2019- October 2019

  1. Yunnan Minzu University, People’s republic of China – 14 students

Inbound student – less than 12 weeks on Northeast and Southeast Asian Studies Network in Finland and Thailand project from January 2021 – April 2021 to RILCA

  1. From University of Helsinki, Finland – 1 student

Outbound student – less than 12 weeks July 2019 – June 2019

  1. National University of Singapore (NUS) – Asian Graduate Student Fellow ship 2020 (AGSF)/ Seminar / Present research paper at the Singapore gradate Forum on Southeast Asian Studies. – 1 student

Outbound student – less than 12 weeks on Northeast and Southeast Asian Studies Network in Finland and Thailand project from January 2021 – March 2021

  1. At University of Helsinki, Finland – 3 students
  2. At University of Sussex, UK – 1 student