Faculty Members

Faculty members at Parami Leadership Program are facilitators of discussions rather than lecturers in the classroom. They collaborate with each other to design a curriculum in which the contents of a class help enrich those of another. This intimate atmosphere allows them to closely guide the class, ensuring that each student receives ample attention and guidance. By doing so, they create a safe space for the students to nurture three major skills—critical thinking, interdisciplinary analysis, and articulate communication.

Meet our faculty

Frances O'Morchoe

Ph.D., History, University of Oxford

Dr. Frances O'Morchoe is a historian of nineteenth and twentieth-century Myanmar. Her Ph.D. at the University of Oxford focused on the making of the borders between Myanmar, China, and Thailand. She also holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Edinburgh. In 2018 she was a visiting lecturer at the University of Mandalay, where she taught classes on Southeast Asia and modern China. At Parami she teaches interdisciplinary courses on global history, frontiers, and modern Southeast Asia.

Faculty in Humanities

Mark Brown

Ph.D., Philosophy, Murdoch University

Dr. Mark Brown has a Master in International and Community Development and a PhD. His professional passions are education and community development, specifically on issues related to social inclusion and sustainable livelihoods. He spent many years in Lashio, Shan State, where he established a school for rural youth. The school now operates as a social enterprise, and is proudly owned and managed by local staff. At Parami, Mark is currently teaching classes on educational studies and community development.

Faculty in Social Sciences

Romina de Jong

Ph.D., Teacher Education, Leiden University

Dr Romina de Jong has a Bachelor in Social work, a Master in Philosophy of Education and finished her PhD. on teacher education while lecturing at the department of Child and Family studies. She spent the past 8 years in SE Asia working in the fields of international development and educational research and management. In Myanmar, she worked with the Ministry of Education, UNESCO, and the British Council, developing curricula and learning materials for the Myanmar Education (teacher) Degree Colleges.

Faculty in Social Sciences

Win Maw Hlaing Oo

Ph.D., Materials Science, Washington State University

Dr. Win Maw Hlaing Oo obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science from Washington State University and worked as postdoctoral researcher at the University of Utah and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In 2014, he was selected as a fellow in ASEAN-US Science and Technology Fellowship Program, which aimed to empower scientists to lead the efforts of fostering science-based policy making. At Parami, Win Maw teaches the role of science and mathematics in society.

Faculty in Sciences

Joe Decker

B.A., English & Educational Studies, Carleton College

Joe has been a part of building alternative school programs in Myanmar since 2012.  He has taught and administered in a variety of schools and contexts but has most notably served as the Academic Director of the Chin Institute of Social Science where he pioneered a democratic and project-based school model, the first of its kind in the region.  He now serves as the Academic Director of the Parami Institute of Continuing Education where he works on developing the program’s curriculum and teaches courses on identity, ethics, theatre, and literature.

Faculty in Humanities; Academic Director

"I feel so lucky to work as a teacher at Parami. The students are incredibly inspiring and also clearly appreciative of the benefits that a rounded liberal arts education can give them. The classes offered at Parami are really diverse - whether it's climate change, or education, or history, philosophy, and even theatre. The Kalaw research trip on the other hand is a time for more contemplative, practical learning, where they learn by spending a week working on basically an ethnography of the village. The two research projects further give them a chance to develop as independent learners and researchers. As a result I think the students get a chance during the year at Parami to grow as individuals, as well as gaining skills that they can bring with them into their future careers."

Dr. Frances O'Morchoe

Ph.D., History, University of Oxford