Faculty Director Spotlight
Whether she’s on the world stage or in front of her class, Dia Cha speaks with authority. Professor of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies, Cha writes books, publishes journal articles, testifies before Congress and presents to national and international bodies. She’s one of the leading scholars of the Hmong-American experience, honored for her contributions and sought for her expertise.
Cha is a product of the Hmong diaspora from Laos. As a young girl she lived four years in refugee camps in Thailand before emigrating to the United States in 1979. She holds a doctorate in anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Professor Dia Cha has received more than sixteen awards recognizing her academic achievement, leadership and commitment to helping others.
Program: Thailand and Laos
When does your program start? Winter Intersession
How long have you run your study abroad program? Five years
What are the benefits of your study abroad program?
A. Knowledge of international affairs and expanded appreciation for alternative worldviews.
B. Understanding race, ethnicity, class, and gender from a transnational perspective.
C. Examining Asian ethnicity in Asian homelands, most especially with respect to the Asian American communities of the United States.
D. Understanding of the historical, economic, sociocultural, and political impacts of colonialism and Westernization in Asia.
E. Asian American participants gain enhanced knowledge of personal
heritage acquired through visits to ancestral homelands.
F. Travel to remote areas of Asia.
What is your favorite memory from the study abroad programs that you have directed?
Watching students eat food that they have never eaten before, seeing things from their host families' perspectives, and experiencing cultural shock.
The wonderful students who have given me their trust to lead them to unknown territories and allow this experience changed their lives forever.
 If you could give prospective students one piece of advice about
study abroad, what would it be?
Don’t judge other cultures or people from other cultures, based on your beliefs and values. Be flexible, motivated, and accommodating when you are traveling abroad.
What are you looking for from the students who apply to your program?
I am looking for serious students who are eager to learn and explore, are highly motivated and enthusiastic, and are interested to become experts in Asian languages, cultures, history and social issues.
If you could give new Faculty Directors of Study Abroad programs one piece of advice about leading a program, what would it be?
Network with local scholars, government officials, business establishments, and NGO who will be your local liaisons and assist you to make arrangements and advise you as you run your program.
What marketing tips would you suggest to your fellow Faculty Directors to encourage more SCSU students to study abroad?
Develop a great program and your students will recruit their peers to participate because they have learned so much and had such a great time in your program.
Find out more information on the Laos and Thailand program
-Announcement of the program
-Brochure for the program
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