“After the Coup,” Parami University President and Simon’s Rock Alum Kyaw Moe Tun Writes About Educating Myanmar’s Students
Parami student Myat Moe Kywe (right) visits the United Nations with Kyaw Moe Tun while in the United States for an internship. Photo courtesy of Parami University
In an essay for Liberal Education, Dr. Kyaw Moe Tun SR ’05, president of Parami University, which is part of the OSUN network, writes about how Parami persevered in its mission “to nurture educated citizens engaged in local and national affairs”—even in the wake of Myanmar’s 2021 military coup and its subsequent authoritarian rule. “Parami chose to push forward with its plans to operate, in order to support Burmese students—most of whom remain in Myanmar, though forcibly displaced from their homes to escape potential detention and violence—and to help the country,” writes Tun. “In the face of authoritarianism, the primary responsibility of a college or university is to ensure that this mental fabric remains intact until the civic space is ready to emerge fully and openly again. Once the fabric loses its integrity, dictatorship wins.”
Tun says that his primary purpose in sharing this story is “to inspire educators, entrepreneurs, and institutional leaders to remember their influence as civic actors and to encourage bolder approaches to international education for students in forcibly displaced populations, including refugees.”
As a fully virtual degree-granting liberal arts and sciences university, Parami offers associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in two majors—philosophy, politics, and economics; and statistics and data science. Parami’s close and sustaining partnership with Bard College enables graduates to receive dual degrees from both institutions. In 2022, Parami welcomed its first cohort of 57 students and now has more than 230 students.
Post Date: 07-01-2025
Tun says that his primary purpose in sharing this story is “to inspire educators, entrepreneurs, and institutional leaders to remember their influence as civic actors and to encourage bolder approaches to international education for students in forcibly displaced populations, including refugees.”
As a fully virtual degree-granting liberal arts and sciences university, Parami offers associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in two majors—philosophy, politics, and economics; and statistics and data science. Parami’s close and sustaining partnership with Bard College enables graduates to receive dual degrees from both institutions. In 2022, Parami welcomed its first cohort of 57 students and now has more than 230 students.
Post Date: 07-01-2025