ULIS students learn about social life of Thai people with Harvard Professor
On March 5th, 2022, ULIS students had an exchange session with Prof. Michael Herzfeld, from the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, the USA.
The lecture with the theme “Semantic mapping and abstract concepts: Urban beauty and community order in the social life of Thai people” is part of the course Introduction to Asian Community.
During the lesson, Prof. Michael Herzfeld – lecturer at Harvard University, the USA, introduced to ULIS students the concepts of semantic mapping and abstract concepts of beauty and urban community order in Thailand. He asserted that the ‘aesthetics’ from the Thai point of view is very special, class-based and often influenced by the Western culture. He also gave real examples of words for beauty, beautiful clothes, beautiful food, beautiful toilet paper, beautiful buildings, in the urban life of Thai people.
