UOG to host book launch celebrating 25 years of Bali Field School

12/18/2025

matriarch blesses students with holy water and rice

At Pura Pasar Agung, one of Bali’s most sacred temples on the slopes of Mount Agung, the matriarch of the Mawar family — longtime hosts of UOG’s Bali Field School — blesses students with holy water and rice during a temple ceremony. The family has welcomed UOG students for 25 years, and in 2009, the host mother (“Ibu”) visited Guam with support from program alumni.

University of Guam students examine traditional woven textiles during a site visit with a master weaver in Bali, Indonesia, as part of the 2025 Bali Field School. The group’s experiences are featured in the newly published book The Loom and the Offering.

University of Guam student BrieAnndah Foruw stands at the gates of a sacred temple in Ubud, Bali, during the 2025 Bali Field School. For 25 years, the program has blended academic research with cultural immersion and spiritual learning. The students’ experiences are featured in the newly published book The Loom and the Offering.

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The University of Guam community will celebrate a milestone in global learning and student scholarship with the local launch of The Loom and the Offering: Learning from the Woven and the Sacred in Bali and Beyond at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 22, in the Dean’s Professional Development Room on the third floor of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building.

Authored by eight UOG students, several Balinese partners, and UOG faculty mentors, the book reflects on their learning and experiences in Bali within the context of a course on community development and honors 25 years of the university’s Bali Field School. It follows the students’ October debut of the book at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival — one of Southeast Asia’s most prominent literary events — where they shared their stories with an international audience.

During the Guam launch event, students will read excerpts from the book, screen a short video from the international launch, and reflect on the transformative learning process. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the launch. Net proceeds from the book’s sales will support Threads of Life’s mission of cultural preservation and sustainable livelihoods across Indonesia.

A quarter-century of immersive learning in Bali

The Bali Field School has brought UOG students into the cultural, spiritual, and ecological heart of Bali since 1999. Through immersive experiences with host families, master weavers, farmers, and spiritual leaders, students explore community, identity, and global interconnectedness.

The Loom and the Offering weaves personal narratives with ethnographic insight and explores themes such as identity, generosity, beauty, truth, and resilience. It also highlights the university’s long-standing partnership with Threads of Life, a Bali-based cultural foundation that supports traditional weaving communities and ecological sustainability.

“This book is not just a celebration of the program’s longevity,” said Dr. Kirk Johnson, professor of sociology and founder of the Field School. “It’s a powerful expression of what happens when education is rooted in relationship, culture, and place.”

The publication marks a major milestone for UOG’s international education programs and sets the stage for the next 25 years of the Bali Field School, including expanded student scholarships, deeper community partnerships, and future student-led publications.

The Loom and the Offering is available on Amazon.com

For more information about the Bali Field School and The Loom and the Offering, contact Jeannette Jose at the University of Guam College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at josejp@triton.uog.edu or call (671) 735-2870.