ISDSI » publications

ISDSI Involved in Village Seed Saving Research

kristin — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:17:13 +0000

Ajaan Abram Bicksler (current Food Systems and Rivers professor at ISDSI) and Ajaan Laura Meitzner Yoder (past Forests professor) recently completed a publication entitled “Strengthening Indigenous Informal Seed Systems in Southeast Asia.” The research, which was completed over the past year with colleagues from Pennsylvania State University (USA), the ECHO Asia Impact Center (Chiang Mai), and MaeJo University (Thailand), and funded by the USAID HORT CRSP program, combines original participatory social science and natural science research in an effort to identify indigenous vegetable crops, seed saving methodology, and seed pathways. Some of the research took place in the villages where ISDSI students spend time during their Sustainable Food Systems course. This finished work is available here as a PDF and summarizes the findings of the study and gives practical advice about how indigenous seed systems can be strengthened, with the hope that cultural and biodiversity will be maintained and smallholder farmer sustainability will be improved.

Sorghum seeds drying in the sun near a traditional home in Baan Dang Nauk, one of the villages our students visit during their Sustainable Food Systems course.

Burma: Living (in) Silence

mark — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:31:57 +0000

Most student who have been on an ISDSI semester know Dr. Christina Fink (Ajaan Christina) from the Foundations course. Ajaan Christina has been teaching with ISDSI for years, along with her other work in the region.

She has just updated her book, Living Silence in Burma: Surviving Under Military Rule.

If you’ve already read the first edition, it is still worth getting and reading the new edition. It has been updated with a chapter covering developments since 2001, as well as other changes.

It is very readable, and a great introduction to how “normal” life has been impacted by military rule. Not so much statistics (like a lot of books on Burma), but more nuanced and rich in its description of what is happening on the ground throughout Burma.

“Living Silence is particularly valuable for its study of the psychological effects of military rule on the people of Burma. The real struggle in Burma is the struggle between the desire to opt for the easy option of submitting to the demands of the powers that be and the commitment that leads to the hard road of resisting the threats and blandishments of a ruthless regime. By exploring the impact of military rule on the lives of ordinary people against a broad historical and social backdrop, Christina Fink makes an important contribution towards an understanding of the root causes of the problems and choices that the people of Burma are facing today.” — Aung San Suu Kyi

If you are interested in Burma and Southeast Asia more generally, this is highly recommended.

Available on Amazon.

Student authors

mark — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 06:06:10 +0000

Two ISDSI alumni have published articles on their experience abroad in Abroad View Magazine’s Spring 2008 Issue.
Read “A Coastal View” by Christa Thorpe and “Mindful Eating” by Julianna Weaver. Well done Christa and Julianna!

-Mark