Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand 
why the old poets of China went so far
and high 
into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

Ivy Ganadillo, a student at the Asian Center and Karen So, a recent graduate of the Asian Center, presented their research papers during a two-day Asia Pacific Sociological Association Conference on held from 15 to 16 February 2014 at Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Ms. Ganadillo discussed new Chinese migrants in the Philippines while Ms. So examined health services trade in Southeast Asia. Ms. Ganadillo is a MA Asian Studies student, specializing on China while Ms. So completed her masters degree in Asian Studies majoringSoutheast Asian studies.

With a theme “Transforming Societies: Contestations and Convergences in Asia and the Pacific,” the conference gathered Asian scholars, sociologist and social scientists from different parts of the world to discuss the challenges that the Asia and the Pacific are facing as they enter the second decade of the 21st century. It was organized by, among others, Chiang Mai University and the National Research Council of Thailand. 

PHOTO: Opening of the Conference