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Susan Hanson is an urban geographer who is interested in the relationship between residential location, gender and employment location. In her research methods class, students develop their own research projects on questions ranging from socioeconomic differences in playground access to the place of the internet in fostering global communication to stop human rights abuses. |
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Meet the researchers:
A very personal interest
Interview with Dan Pomerleau
Dan Pomerleau '04 is using the resources of Clark University to explore, from an academic perspective, his very personal interest in human rights abuses against the Falun Gong spiritual practice in China. In addition to his geography major, he is completing a concentration in Asian Studies and minor in International Development. He hopes next year to begin the new 5th-year free master's degree program in Geographical Information Science (GIS). Below is a summary of a recent conversation in which he discussed his research into Falun Gong.
How Did you know you wanted to major in geography when you came to Clark, or was that something you decided on after you got here?
I decided after I got here. I originally thought I'd study chemistry, but I also took some core geography department courses to fulfill some of the perspectives requirements. At the time I didn't really have a good idea of what geography was as a discipline; from my experience in elementary school I thought it was all about maps and locations of countries and capitals. But then I started learning that with geography you can go off in a lot of different directions--earth sciences, cartography, political, economic, and social geography--and that there are a lot of opportunities to do independent research. So I decided to major instead in geography, with a focus in GIS.
I understand that in Dr. Hanson's research methods class, Geography 141, you decided to focus your class research on the persecution of Falun Gong. Why did you choose that as a subject?
I've been personally involved with the practice of Falun Gong for about five years, and I'd been practicing for a year in high school before the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners started in China in 1999. The practice is rooted in Buddhist and Taoist thought and is based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It includes five gentle exercises. I've had a lot of benefits from the practice, and everyone I knew felt it was very positive. So seeing the practice persecuted in China simply because it became very popular was really shocking.
I didn't start to explore Falun Gong from an academic perspective until I took the research methods class last spring. At that time I wanted to do a historical analysis of the Falun Gong persecution and abuses against practitioners while in detention. These abuses have been well documented, but not much academic study has been done.
At the suggestion of Dr. Hanson, I decided to focus on the international networks that are creating a global space to publicize and stop the abuses. It's been fascinating to learn how people around the world have been working together over these past four years. With the ability of the internet to facilitate communication, people in all parts of the world can share information about human rights violations very quickly.
My project was titled "Historical analysis of the persecution of Falun Gong and the effectiveness of the Family Rescue Campaign." The Campaign is run by people from more than 17 countries who have family members in China being detained in labor camps for practicing Falun Gong.
What are your sources of information?
I designed a questionnaire and sent it, via email, to people in the Family Rescue Campaign. I collected a lot of data and presented some preliminary information in a poster at Fall Fest, an annual research presentation day at Clark.
I understand you're developing that work into a senior honors thesis?
Yes. I'm trying to increase my population sample by getting more questionnaire responses. I'm also studying the history of the Chinese labor camps or "laogai". These camps have developed into a well-established system over the past 50 years. The Chinese labor camp is very similar to the Soviet gulag.
The labor camps are used for two purposes, to impose "thought reform" on people with different political or religious views from that of the communist party, and to supply slave labor. People can be put into a labor camp without trial for up to three years. As a result, lot of innocent people are targeted and put in there, and severe physical and mental torture is common. I'm going to look at how this system of thought reform and physical labor has been used to try and eradicate Falun Gong, as well as what types of goods are produced in the camps and whether they make it onto the international market. Eyewitness reports are available from people who have gotten out of labor camps. Former Chinese Communist Party chairman Jiang Zemin is facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for personally directing the attempted 'eradication' of Falun Gong.
What are some of your other sources of information?
One of the main sources about the labor camps is the Laogai Research Foundation. They have a book called Laogai: The Chinese Gulag. It's written by a former labor camp survivor, Harry Wu who now lives in Washington D.C. He was put into a labor camp in the 1950s for alleged counter-revolutionary ideas-a very vague term. Since his release he's dedicated himself to exposing the abuses in the labor camps.
Other sources of information are human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. I used a lot of AI's China Human Rights reports in my research last spring. There's also an organization created in 2000 called Friends of Falun Gong, which specifically focuses on Falun Gong human rights abuses. The U.S. State Department issues a report every year on international religious freedom and human rights abuses, and they've documented a lot of abuses in China. I personally know Falun Gong practitioners who have been abused, or have family members who've been abused or killed. Eyewitness accounts from China are posted on different internet sites, and to date there are nearly 900 confirmed cases of death from torture, with potentially thousands more hidden beneath the surface.
Two years ago I went to China with my brother and a friend. Our intention was to travel throughout the northeastern region, and to give the Chinese people we met a different perspective on Falun Gong from that in the Chinese media. We wanted to tell them about our personal, very positive experiences with Falun Gong.
I was detained for 48 hours in a detention center in Beijing. I had been passing out some information cards about Falun Gong and was spotted by an undercover policeman. The cards just said in Chinese that I came from America to say that Falun Gong is good, and that it's supported around the world. I didn't ask them to take any action, just to think about the credibility of what they hear all day long. In the detention center I was beaten, verbally abused, punched, and kicked. It made it clear to me what they have been doing to the Chinese people.
Were you worried that you might not be released?
No, I was never worried about that.
Can you comment on what you see as the advantages and disadvantages of becoming involved in research as an undergraduate?
This has been an interesting semester for me. I have my honors thesis course with Susan Hanson, and I have a directed studies course with Paul Ropp, chair of the history department and the Asian studies concentration. I've taken courses on Chinese history, culture, philosophy and language, so it gives me a context in which to set the Falun Gong situation. I've had a lot less class time! It's open that way, but it's also more challenging because there's less structure-you have to motivate yourself. That's one of the advantages; it allows you to build your own structure, to do something that you're interested in, and to use the resources at the university. The professors really allow you to do something individual and new.
As to disadvantages, well, I guess it depends on the student. If you need a lot of structure and external motivation, it can be more difficult to do an independent research study. There are also fewer opportunities to bounce questions off fellow students, which is something I miss from open class discussions.
I assume you stay in regular contact with Dr. Hanson during the thesis process?
Right. That's the nature of my honors thesis class with her. You meet to set out your direction, what you're going to do next, and to get feedback and guidance. It's the same with my directed study with Professor Ropp. I've been doing a lot of reading about the political and social climate of 1950s China up to the present, the major social issues in China today, and setting Falun Gong in the context of that. I'm trying to get a better understanding of how the government and society view it and if there are any historical analogies that can be made. The way the practice is being targeted now is very similar to a lot of past political persecutions, but this persecution has backfired.
It sounds like taking the directed reading and research methods class has allowed you to bring into your academic studies something that's personally important to you. You're not just seeing it as an observer from a distance.
Yes. It's always easier to study something if you have some connection with it. Sometimes this can make it difficult to be as objective, so I'm trying to let the facts speak for themselves.
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Additional Resources
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Dan Pomerleau
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The advantages of studying geography at Clark