This feature was written by Andrew Fenty in conjunction with OSU Global Opportunities.
Seated in the eastern Himalayas, the country of Bhutan not only holds the title of highest elevation at 10,760 feet but also has a unique perspective on happiness. OSU’ s faculty-led program, titled “Gross National Happiness: Experiencing the Life and Culture of Bhutan” investigates the key principles of happiness. Instead of using GDP to measure the success of their country, Bhutan uses Gross National Happiness (GNH).
Program leader Nick Andrews describes how students participating in the Bhutan program will “learn how local values and beliefs influence farming methods and natural resource management, then complete the course by studying local ingredients with hands-on cooking.” This two-week immersive program allows students to experience the incredible culture, food, music, architecture, forestry, agriculture, and water resource management of Bhutan.
To the west of Bhutan, another faculty-led program called “The Intersections of Biodiversity and Buddhist Cultures” is taking students to Nepal to learn about biodiversity in the Himalayan ecosystem. Dee Denver, the leader of this program, speaks on its focus of “different forms of Himalayan wildlife, based out of Buddhist monasteries where students interact with resident monks and nuns to learn about their perspectives on biodiversity and human-nature relationships.”
Related Stories
