Doctoral Dissertation Research: Religion and Gender Identity in Northern Thailand

芝加哥大学博士候选人迈克尔Chladek，由博士监督詹妮弗科尔，将研究如何宗教习俗可能有助于性别认同的发展在泰国北方社会，特别是在如何西方的性别和身份的概念正在影响当地的男子气概的理解。他将探讨男子气概观念的变化对佛教寺院制度的影响，这在泰国只对男子开放。这些发现将有助于更广泛地深入了解宗教，性别和社会变革。该项目将在泰国北方的两个省份清迈和清莱进行为期18个月的人种学实地考察。研究人员将在两所新修僧侣学校进行参与式观察，对僧侣的日常生活进行深入采访，以了解佛教僧侣生活如何塑造他们作为男人的体验。为了了解出家与成年之间的一般关系，研究人员将对该地区的佛教徒进行采访;他将分析新闻文章，书籍和其他媒体;他将参与当地有关性别和寺院受戒问题的活动，并对参与这些讨论的关键人物进行深入采访。这项研究将有助于从社会科学的角度探讨全球化如何影响当地的性别角色和对男子气概的理解，特别是宗教实践在塑造性别观念方面的作用，并将加深我们对性别和身份的新含义如何产生和在社会中扎根的理解。该项目还有助于培养一名研究生。

University of Chicago doctoral candidate Michael Chladek, supervised by Dr. Jennifer Cole, will research how religious practices may contribute to gender identity development in northern Thai society particularly in terms of how Western concepts of gender and identity are affecting local understandings of masculinity. He will explore the impact of changing notions of manhood on the institution of Buddhist monasticism, which is only open to men in Thailand. The findings will contribute to a deeper understanding of religion, gender, and social change more broadly. The project will involve 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, two northern provinces of Thailand. The researcher will conduct participant observations at two schools for novice monks, conducting in-depth interviews with monks about their everyday lives to understand how Buddhist monasticism may shape their experience of being men. To understand the general relationship between monasticism and manhood, the researcher will conduct interviews with lay Buddhists in the area; he will analyze news articles, books, and other media; and he will participate in local events concerning the issues of gender and monastic ordination, conducting in-depth interviews with key people involved in these discussions. This research will contribute a social science perspective on how globalization may impact local gender roles and understandings of manhood, especially regarding the role of religious practice in shaping ideas about gender and will deepen our understanding of how new meanings of gender and identity arise and take hold within societies. This project also contributes to the training of a graduate student.