In 1998, the Catholic University of Louvain awarded Aung San Suu Kyi the title and regalia of Doctor Honoris Causa. The Nobel Laureate (1991) was living under house arrest in Burma-Myanmar at that time, and her husband, Michael Aris, a professor at Oxford University, traveled to Louvain-la-Neuve to accept the honor in her stead. Fifteen years later, on October 19, 2013, Aung San Suu Kyi was finally able to travel to Louvain and meet its faculty and staff.
Aung San Suu Kyi is a woman of both thought and action, who has long been dedicated to the non-violent struggle to bring democracy to Burma. In addition to her personal engagement in on-the-ground political activism, she has written several major works on the connections between ethics and politics that seek to locate the Burmese tradition within the broader historical context of democratic principles adapted to the contemporary world. To honor this commitment, the Catholic University at Louvain announces the creation of the Aung San Suu Kyi Fund for Democracy, Cultures and Action. This Fund is intended both as a tribute and an invitation. Any project honoring Aung San Suu Kyi must not only recognize her remarkable actions, but also deepen our understanding of her exemplary relationship with the world, a relationship exemplified by all those engaged in the pacifist struggle to make the democratic ideal a concrete reality. Our goal in endowing this Fund is to foster a deepened vision of the University’s own calling in society, a vision in which academic work is indivisible from the promotion of Fund amental freedoms and critical thinking skills.
The goal of the Fund on Democracy, Cultures, and Action is to address the challenges that arise when thought and action are engaged to further the democratic ideal, and to promote a way of thinking in which universal ideals coexist with the specificities of national and local cultures, and include concrete conditions for the exercise of citizenship. In a manner befitting its goal and in close partnership with civil society, the Fund will undertake the four following projects:
(1) an international research seminar series on the theme of “Democracy, Cultures, and Action” ;
(2) the promotion of two PhD. thesis in political sociology and law /sociology of law ;
(3) a multilingual information platform covering democracy and human rights developments in Burma ;
(4) a university training schemes designed for emerging leaders in civil society from across the world who are working for social change that seeks to further the democratic ideal.
While a portion of the research support program will be devoted to Burma, its broader aim is to ensure that questions and reflections on the Burmese experience occur in the context of a fundamental exploration of the relationship between theory and practice, with the goal of furthering the democratic ideal.