The Facebook page of the Faculty of Social Administration, Thammasat University has announced an event on Tuesday, 22 September 2020, from 5pm to 6pm in room SA102 of the Faculty of Social Administration building on Tha Prachan campus.
Khun Manit Intharapim, founder of the Bangkok-based organization Accessibility is Freedom, will speak on Getting involved in the community.
Khun Manit is a leading advocate in Thailand for people with disabilities.
The Thammasat University Library collection includes a number of books on social policy and development.
At TU students know, the TU Social Policy and Development (SPD) program
is an international Bachelor of Arts programme. The curriculum will last for four years and all courses are entirely taught in English. The programme was launched in 2013 and its mission is encapsulated today in the motto: “Empowering students, inspiring change”
We prepare our students to work for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), charities, international organisations, academia or the public sector by training them to social agents who are aware of today’s problems and tomorrow’s solutions.
Our values and philosophy
The SPD team consists of experienced and innovative academics both from Thailand and abroad. These diverse lecturers and foreign experts ensure that students are exposed to a wide range of approaches and worldviews so that each can find one which fits each students’ expectations. At the core of SPD values are open-mindedness, critical thinking and intellectual rigour.
SPD programme’s formation aims at keeping in touch with the demand of the job market and emerging social trends. To ensure that no significant gaps exist between the curriculum and the professional world, the SPD team has established extensive public and private partnerships with different professional social agents in Thailand. Students are given frequent opportunities to meet and discuss with experts of various social issues during lectures or special seminars organized every semester, as well as during mandatory or optional internships.
Its Strategic Plan 2020-2025 has the mission
to prepare our students to become proactive social change-makers, able to transform today’s problems into tomorrow’s solutions through open-mindedness, critical thinking, and intellectual rigour.
These are achieved by maintaining a
- Vibrant, nurturing environment for our students
- Increased and diverse student body from different
talents, backgrounds
- Unique academic and social experience leading to highly satisfied students
- Increased student employability opportunities
- Increased community engagement where our programme can add value
- Increased profile and visibility of SPD
- Efficient staff and student support services
- Greater integration of SPD within Faculty of
Social Administration
Key result areas in curricula and teaching would include:
- Revitalized, socially-relevant curricula
- Highly qualified and experienced lecturers, experts and practitioners
- Integrated classroom and experiential, field-based experiences
- Broadened academic opportunities through international partnerships
Research
- Dynamic research culture for academics and students
- Academics engaged in, and committed to research collaborations…
Global Network Of Partners
- A broad network of partners and collaborators with universities and policy research centers all over the world to strengthen exchange, collaboration and joint projects.
Among reasons to join the SPD Program:
The SPD is an international bachelor’s programme at Thammasat University. The programme is entirely taught in English and is open to both Thai and foreign students. Our current full-time foreign students come from Bhutan, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Malaysia, Myanmar, Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea. We prepare our students to work for non-governmental organisations (NGOs), charities, international organisations, academia or the public services by training them to become decision-makers who are aware of today’s problems and tomorrow’s solutions.
- This programme is the only international BA programme focusing on social policy and development of its kind in Asia.
The SPD is international to the core – the entire curriculum is taught in English, the student body is diverse, as are the lecturers and guest speakers who come from all corners of the world. International exposure is guaranteed through student exchange programmes, participation in international symposia, and internships at international and regional organisations.
- Join a truly interdisciplinary programme.
We strongly believe that our students can bring about real changes in attitudes, societies and communities in the world. Ranging from political science and psychology to welfare economics and gerontology, our students are exposed to various social problems and the analysis of these problems each academic year. We encourage our students to analyse the different social issues through different lenses: political, sociological, economic, psychological, systemic, to name just a few.
A distinguished advocate
As the website for Khun Manit’s Accessibility Is Freedom organization explains:
Accessibility Is Freedom arises from the determination and commitment to live with others in society, acquiring and learning the difficulties in self-esteem caused by inaccessibility in both rights and opportunities.
It began a long time ago and today people with disabilities in Thailand still live in a challenging society.
Although the government provides assistance in many parts, important and necessary matters such as travel, which are fundamental to human beings, are inadequate. To enable people with disabilities to live independently, to grow, and develop into quality people, more must be done.
Public awareness is one of the main problems hindering national development…
What do we do?
We aim to become one of the transforming forces of Thailand. We work in the areas of rights, opportunities, equality and public awareness.
Our work focuses on freedom in all areas, especially thinking…Social transformation takes time, we have to fight for a long time, and cannot stop these projects. The goal is to create a truly equitable society.
Among its projects is to solve the problem of parking for the disabled and public transportation access. Using social media, Khun Manit believes that changing society begins with individual decisions to become aware and act.
One of the small ways all TU students can learn from the Accessibility Is Freedom is to think about learning to cook modest dishes, in order to be less dependent on restaurants and prepared meals.
As a way of dealing with challenges of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and focusing on health, the website presents ideas for preparing healthy sandwiches, steamed fish with spicy sauce, homemade banana cake, pizza, honey spicy chicken wings, and other treats.
There is also information about outdoor challenges such as how people with disabilities can succeed with driver’s license exams and how to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic by remembering to exercise to stay fit.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)