The students just got back last week from our Forests course (Political Ecology of Forests: Upland People and Natural Resources).

This is an amazing course, with students living with and learning from remote highland communities in Mae Hong Son province.  Students travel out to MHS by bus, and then spend the next three weeks backpacking to each village (using the traditional trails the communities are trying to preserve — some of which have been in use for over 100 years), living with Karen tribal families, working in their fields, studying how the manage and care for the forest, and immersing themselves in the lives of the villages.

The ecology is amazing (remote and dense forests and jungle, wild orchids in the trees), steep mountain trails, lots of river crossings, and sitting around the fires in the village at night drying out and drinking tea, listening to the sounds of village life, and talking with host moms and dads, brothers and sisters, about their lives in the village, their hopes for the future, and their struggles to live a sustainable live in the mountains.

Here are just a few photos to give you an idea of what the course is like:

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This week they are switching focus to the Oceans course, and the islands, reefs and mangroves of Southern Thailand.