Monash University Australia students at SEACO

SEACO hosted Monash University Australia students for a study program unit titled ‘Field Methods in Anthropology and International Development’ under the supervision of Dr. Narelle Warren and Dr. Bruce Missingham. Dr. Warren is a medical anthropologist who specialised in understanding the relationship between the experience of living with neurological conditions, biomedical representations of the brain, and temporality. She has been conducting her research in Malaysia since 2011. Dr. Missingham is an anthropologist with interests in the study of development and environmental movements in Southeast Asia; and education for sustainable development in universities and NGOs. Both undergraduate and postgraduate students of various majors were trained for a week from July 3 to July 7 at the Monash University Malaysia, Sunway campus, before leaving for SEACO Segamat for their field work study. They were briefed and had booth presentations on July 10 2017 with their SEACO team leaders to go over the final details before starting their field work. Students were divided into groups of four; with studies focused on health service provision, community understanding of cardiovascular diseases, access to schooling and higher education; and research local livelihoods using the sustainable livelihoods framework. They conducted their field work study from July 11 to July 14. Through SEACO, students from abroad are given the opportunity to learn about the socio-economy development in Malaysia and exposure to community ethics and culture of Segamat.