A Mansfield Center Brown Bag Lecture with Dr. Umaporn Muneenam, Lecturer and Researcher, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand and Dr. Norma Nickerson, Director, Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR), UM. A special offering of the U.S. Department of State Economic Empowerment Program.

Dr. Muneenam works with rural communities to develop tourism in a sustainable manner that directly benefits the local community. She primarily engages women, seeking to empower them through increased incomes while preserving traditional cultural heritage. While in Missoula, she is working with Dr. Norma Nickerson of UM's Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR). In her lecture, Dr. Muneenam will discuss how the shared culture of the Baba-Nyonya ethnic minorities in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore provides significant opportunity for cultural tourism development in these regions, thereby empowering local people and strengthening rural communities. Dr. Nickerson will share her experience working on similar projects throughout Montana.