The program encourages us to think critically about what happiness means in the Bhutanese context, and ask what we can learn about notions of “happiness” as contributors to our own quality of life. Our journey into the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan gives us rare access to vast and wild landscapes, challenging us to reevaluate commonly held notions of our role in the natural world.

Program Highlights

• Experience an immersion in rural life in a homestay with a Bhutanese family
• Meditation and hands-on learning with the nuns in the Buddhist Nuns Foundation
• Hike up to Paro Taktsang, the sacred cliffside monastery also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”

We learn how Buddhism, as the state religion, has had deep social impacts, particularly on the creation of unique government policies on conservation, preservation, and sustainable development. We also delve deeply into Buddhist philosophy, histories, and folk tales to understand drastically different ways of viewing our existence on this planet. We seek to understand how these embodied philosophies impact people’s daily choices. Through listening to both local villagers and professional academics, we gain insights to perspectives on the environment, our role in conservation, and the concept of earth as an interdependent organism.

Since the arrival of television in 1999 and a cascade of global influences, Bhutan has experienced a steady increase in foreign tourism which contradicts long-held traditions. How can we understand the pressures and adaptations of Bhutanese culture in the face of a globalizing world? In our questioning and exploration of Bhutan, we hope to find a better understanding of the worldviews and assumptions that shape our lives and happiness back home.