Conference Year: 2020

Federal refugee policy calls for quick self-sufficiency for families and individuals resettled in the United States, causing families to transition quickly into a culture markedly different from life in camps set up in Nepal. Refugees are a particularly vulnerable population who suffer abrupt nutritional adjustments resulting from forced migration. This research explores how participating in …

Immigrant Communities, Sustainable Living and the Cielo (Community) Gardens: Bhutanese Refugees in San Antonio Read More »

Since 2008 almost 96, 000 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in the United States of America. After 20 years or more in refugee camps in Nepal and several failed negotiations by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees to repatriate the refugees back to Bhutan, third country resettlement became the only solution. After the first …

A Decade Later: Challenges and Success Stories of Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement in the United States Read More »

Two major Nepal earthquakes in 2015 not only killed nearly 9,000 people but also caused massive damages in physical infrastructures, about 800,000 private houses and 6,278 government buildings. For the purpose of post-earthquake reconstruction within the notion of ‘Build-Back-Better’, Government of Nepal formed various forms of institutions, laws and policies and technical expertise. The National …

‘Expert Knowledge and Expertise in the Aftermath of April 2015 Nepal Earthquake’ Read More »

The 2015 Nepal’s earthquakes caused massive losses of human lives, economy and physical infrastructures as well as cultural heritage. According to the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Report, approximately 2,900 historical, cultural, religious monuments and heritage sites including World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley were damaged. When the formal reconstruction program began, major heritage sites of …

Discourse of Post-Earthquake Heritage Reconstruction: A Case Study of Bhaktapur Municipality Read More »

The provincial government chief ministers and ministers have complained that they have not been able to deliver because the federal government has not devolved the constitutionally allocated power and resources. While this may be true, some add that the problem with Nepali federalism is that the constitution itself does not give much power to the …

Nepali Federalism: Quasi, Pseudo or Real? Read More »

Different from stray dogs inhabiting metropolitan areas such as Kathmandu, mountain dogs in the Nepal Himalayas have neither pack structures nor territory. They live either alone or in groups of two to three. For food, they hunt sheep or smaller animals. They stay active and wander about the villages and mountains during day and night. …

Neither ‘Pet’ Nor ‘Pest’: Exploring Individual Decision-Makings on Creative Usage of Space Among Himalayan Feral Dogs in Langtang, Nepal Read More »

My paper investigates the reality of participation politics in local level planning process in Nepal’s lowest government units, namely the Municipalities (Nagarpalika) and Rural Municipalities (Gaupalika). The research findings underscore the presence of tokenism in the name of inclusive federal policies. The paper addresses the following question: is inclusion in political leadership enough to ensure …

Towards Federal Democracy: Participatory Planning in Post – War Federal setting of Nepal Read More »

Nepal’s population is in the midst of demographic transition and experienced tremendous demographic changes in the last four decades with substantial declines in fertility and mortality rates, and significant increases in life expectancy. The country still has a young working-age population but is fast approaching an ageing population (Feeney, Thapa, & Sharma, 2001; HAI & …

Population Aging and Family Change: Effects on the Living Conditions of Older People in Rural Nepal Read More »

Access to the radio, and liberty in content production and broadcast increased with the advent of democracy in Nepal[1]. Likewise, rapid digitalization in the last decade, has led to waves of innovation in the field of radio production and broadcast. Even a radio program produced in a local community can now reach a global audience. …

Changing Dynamics of Radio Audience Interactivity in Nepal. ‘Audience Want Change! Radio Needs the Change!’ Read More »

On May of 2018, I undertook a decision to continue my interest in working with festivals (त्योहार) and the plurality that comes through observing processual (tradition/s) occasions of religious nature. These encounters were obtained through my recent preliminary field (re)search in the valley of Kathmandu and the respect for theoretical discourses through its usage. This …

Rituals and Mediating Space/S (An Eclectic Approach): An Anecdotal (Re)Search for Festivals in Kathmandu Valley (Multiplicity of Ethnographic Instances) Read More »