Patterson School Students Immersed in Burmese Co-curricular Learning

LEXINGTON, Ky.  (Sept. 27, 2012) — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Kentucky this week capped an examination of Burma (also known as Myanmar) by the University of Kentucky’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce that began during the past spring semester. 

The co-curricular focus started with a site visit in Chicago, followed by three major events in Kentucky over the past six weeks. Ambassador Carey Cavanaugh, the Patterson School's director, said this is a perfect example of the richness experiential learning can add to classroom study. 

"Students learn in regular seminars about sanctions and democracy promotion," he said, "but this outside engagement with political activists and key leaders offers a texture and depth of understanding of these issues that can be obtained nowhere else. Most importantly, it exposes our students to inspirational role models."

In March, Patterson School students visited a special exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum titled "Blood/Stones: Burmese Rubies." This photography show illuminated the fact that, despite U.S. and British sanctions against Burma, trade in the precious gemstones generates almost $500 million dollars a year to the military junta.

Art Works Projects executive director Leslie Thomas explained how this trade was carefully controlled by Burma’s leadership, ensuring profits benefited only a small elite group in this impoverished country.  The nongovernmental organization's exhibit conveyed not just the economic situation, but also visually told the story of human rights abuses in Burma.

These human rights abuses were on vivid display on campus last August with the visit of former Burmese soldier, political activist and political prisoner turned refugee Myo Myint. The principal subject of the 2011 HBO documentary "Burma Soldier," Myint had an epiphany after being wounded in interethnic fighting while serving in the Burmese Army.  

Joining his country’s nonviolent democratic movement, he encouraged soldiers to stop killing their countrymen, even though this guaranteed he would be imprisoned. Released after more than a decade of incarceration, he fled Burma to Thailand, settling eventually in the United States. Myint’s passion and broken body (he lost a leg, a hand and several fingers in battle) brought students to the edge of tears as he detailed his personal history, the positive impact of sanctions, and his dream of democratic reform.

Sen. Mitch McConnell echoed these same themes two weeks later in an intimate, hour-long, foreign policy discussion with Patterson School students. McConnell, instrumental in pushing for U.S. trade restrictions, met with Burmese democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in January 2012. He reviewed the political impact of the sanctions regime, how Suu Kyi believed they had made a difference, and his firsthand impressions of the new regime. 

Suu Kyi’s arrival in Louisville on Monday completed the academic trifecta, with Patterson School students and faculty the winners. Thirty took part in the gathering arranged by McConnell, where the Burmese Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s gentle grace belied a truly commanding presence. McConnell compared her heroism and nonviolence stance to that of Mohandas K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

"I have long admired those who advocate nonviolent opposition," said second-year graduate student Tori Baker. "The chance to hear such an influential leader personally was an extraordinary opportunity; her optimism, eloquence, and vigor were inspiring to me not only as a foreign policy student, but as an aspiring female leader." 

This sentiment was echoed by diplomacy student Nicholas Spanoudis.

"It is evident that nothing — be it decades of house arrest or the tribulations of her present-day political life — can dampen her spirits or her resolve to bring democracy, peace, and stability to her homeland," Spanoudis said. "She is sharp, quick-witted, brilliantly funny, and remarkably engaging.  She is an inspiration to all who seek to make the world a better place."

Security student Cori W. Curtis added: "Aung San Suu Kyi demonstrates how virtues are lived out.  I loved how she told us we should not focus on annihilating our enemies but winning them over through peace, and it is through this process a whole society will rise up from the dark valleys of war and brokenness.  It was truly uplifting to witness such a great arbiter of democracy.  These last two months have increased my spirit for public service."

Speaking with Cavanaugh before the Louisville event, Suu Kyi was surprised to learn that UK had a school of diplomacy that examined conflict resolution and human rights.

"We need more of that," she said. "More peace mediation, too."

Perhaps diplomacy student Anne Marie Vaughn summed up the value of the event best:

"On a practical level, it was fascinating to hear her discuss the connections between political, economic, and social issues in Burma. Making those connections is one of the primary skills we are developing at the Patterson School."

MEDIA CONTACT: Keith Hautala (859) 323-2396; keith.hautala@uky.edu