Hotel Shanker, Lazimpat
24-26 July, 2024
About the Conference
The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya has been hosted by Social Science Baha since 2012 in collaboration with the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, Britain–Nepal Academic Council, the Centre for Himalayan Studies–CNRS (since 2015) & Nepal Academic Network (Japan) (since 2016). The objective of the conference is to provide a scholarly platform in Kathmandu to scholars working on various aspects of social life in Nepal and the Himalaya from the perspective of social science as well as the arts and the humanities.
Conference 2023
Panel A1 | Trading on the Trans-Border Livelihoods 9:00 -11:00
Chair
Jeevan Sharma, General Secretary, BNAC
Discussant
Alice Millington, PhD Candidate, University of Cambridge
Li Zhinong
Professor/Vice President, School of Ethnology and Sociology, Yunnan University, China
Wu Di
PhD candidate & Research Assistant, Yunnan University, China
Chinmaya Shah
Secretary and Programme Coordinator, Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education, India
Chitra Rawat
Research and Operations Manager, India Migration Now
Break 11–11:30 am
Poster Presentation
The poster presentation will be on display on each day of the conference during tea/coffee and lunch breaks.
Sanjaya Aryal
Senior Research Officer, University of Essex, UK
Aaron Wyllie
Lecturer, University of Essex, UK
Kathryn Chard
Liliane Silva
Senior Research Officer, University of Essex, UK
Panel A2 | Literature as Aspirations and Representation 11:30 am–1:30 pm
Chair
Nirmal Man Tuladhar, Chair, Social Science Baha
Discussant
Rosy Chamling, Head, Department of English, Sikkim University
Michael Hutt
Emeritus Professor, SOAS, UK; Research Affiliate, University of Oxford, UK
Komal Phuyal
Lecturer, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Ramawatar Yadav
Former Vice-Chancellor, Purbanchal University, Nepal
Lunch Break 1:30–2:30 pm
Panel A3 | Nepali Diasporic Identity in the Context of Multiculturalism
Chair
Lokranjan Parajuli, Senior Researcher, Martin Chautari
Discussant
Komal Phuyal, Lecturer, Tribhuvan University
Rosy Chamling
Head, Department of English, Sikkim University, India
Prayash Gupta
Assistant Professor, Sikkim Manipal University, India
Bhaskar Chettri
PhD candidate, National Institute of Technology Sikkim, India
Panel B1 | Creating and Governing Subjects 11:30 am–1:30 pm
Chair
Pratyoush Onta, Research Director, Martin Chautari
Discussant
Sohan Prasad Sha, Researcher, Martin Chautari
Rita Baramu
Programme Manager, Body & Data, Nepal
Neha Gauchan
Programme Coordinator, Body & Data, Nepal
Shubha Kayastha
Executive Director, Body & Data, Nepal
Shambhawi Paudel
Programme Officer, Body & Data, Nepal
Lokranjan Parajuli
Senior Researcher, Martin Chautari, Nepal
Lunch Break 1:30–2:30 pm
Panel B2 | Political and Private Identity in Violence 2:30–4:30 pm
Chair
Richard Bownas, Professor, University of Northern Colorado
Discussant
Tracy Fehr, PhD Candidate, University of Colorado Boulder
Prakash BK
PhD candidate, University of Notre Dame, USA
Niki Rai
Research Scholar, B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi, India
Claire Willey-Sthapit
Assistant Professor, University of Kansas, USA
Panel A4 | Reimagining Marginalisation 9–11 am
Chair
Mahendra Lawoti, Professor, Western Michigan University
Discussant
Amar BK, Independent Scholar
Sita Mademba
Senior Research Associate, Social Science Baha
Sanjaya Mahato
Faculty, Kathmandu University, Nepal
Mitra Pariyar
Research Fellow, Kingston University, UK (Last affiliation)
Break 11–11:30 am
Panel A5 | Mixed Panel 11:30 am–1:30 pm
Chair
Claire Willey-Sthapit, Assistant Professor, University of Kansas
Discussant
Sudeshna Thapa, Research Coordinator, Social Science Baha
Sanjaya Aryal
Senior Research Officer, University of Essex, UK
Aaron Wyllie
Lecturer, University of Essex, UK
Kathryn Chard
Liliane Silva
Senior Research Officer, University of Essex, UK
Apolline Dupuis
MA student
Bimla Gurung
Lecturer, Morgan International College, Nepal
Claire Martinus
Lecturer, University of Lille, France; Lecturer, University of Mons, Belgium
Bhuwan Thapa
Assistant Professor, Appalachian State University, USA
Ujjwal Upadhyay
Senior Program Coordinator, National College, Kathmandu University, Nepal
Indresh M Sharma
Senior Research Coordinator, National College, Kathmandu University, Nepal
Lunch Break 1:30–2:30 pm
Panel A6 | Whither Education in Nepal 2:30 am–4:30 pm
Chair
Ramawatar Yadav, Former Vice-Chancellor, Purbanchal University, Nepal
Discussant
Arjun Kharel, Research Fellow, Social Science Baha
Phoenix Kenney
PhD candidate, University of Cambridge, UK
Uma Pradhan
Lecturer, University College London, UK
Chandra Upadhyay
Assistant Professor, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Panel B3 | Improving School Education and Performance 9–11 am
Chair
Pramod Prasad Bhatta, Member, Martin Chautari
Discussant
Uma Pradhan, Lecturer, University College London
Shak Bahadur Budhathoki
Member, Lifelong Learning Mandala, Nepal
Suman Gyawali
MEAL Officer, The Leprosy Mission Nepal
Pragya Paneru
Lecturer, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Prativa Paneru
Lecturer, Trinity College, Nepal
Break 11–11:30 am
Panel A7 | Displacement and Perseverance 9–11 am
Chair
Stefanie Lotter, Senior Research Fellow, SOAS University of London
Discussant
Michael Hutt, Emeritus Professor, SOAS University of London; Research Affiliate, University of Oxford
Nimesh Dhungana
Lecturer, University of Manchester, UK
Sanjay Sharma
National University of Singapore
Kripa Basnyat
National Project Coordinator, International Labour Organization
Narayan Adhikari
CEO & Director, Accountability Lab Nepal
Prekkshya Bimali
Flora Cornish
Amit Gautam
Research Officer, Social Science Baha
Jeevan Baniya
Assistant Director, Social Science Baha
Niraj Lawoju
MA, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Break 11–11:30 am
Panel A8 | Identity and Community Formation through Discourse 11:30 am–1:30 pm
Chair
Kumud Rana, Lecturer, Lancaster University
Discussant
Sanjay Sharma, Independent Scholar
Binita Magaiya
Researcher, Social Science Baha
Stefanie Lotter
Senior Research Fellow, SOAS, UK
Rinzing Ongmu Sherpa
PhD candidate, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Paulina Stanik
PhD candidate, University of Warsaw, Poland
Lunch Break 1:30–2:30 pm
Panel A9 | Examining Identity in Nepali Politics and Society 2:30–4:30 pm
Chair
Hari Sharma, Executive Director, Purak Asia
Discussant
John Whelpton, Independent Scholar
Richard Bownas
Professor, University of Northern Colorado, USA
Mahendra Lawoti
Professor, Western Michigan University, USA
Kumud Rana
Lecturer, Lancaster University, UK
Closing Remarks
Selected Presentation
| SN | Presenter/Affiliation | Abstract |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Rukh Gurung
Assistant Researcher, Martin Chautari
Pratyoush Onta
Research Director, Martin Chautari
Lokranjan Parajuli
Senior Researcher, Martin Chautari
|
Panel 1: Histories of Education in the Nepali Cultural World |
| 2 |
Mahesh Paudyal
Lecturer, Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu
Komal Phuyal
Lecturer in English, Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
Shiva Rijal
Lecturer in English, Central Department of English, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal
|
Panel 2: Of Journeys and Worldviews: Formation of Early Modern Consciousness in Nepal |
| 3 |
Sampreety Gurung
PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology, Cornell University
Hema Kiruppalini
Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute, NUS, Singapore
Jacob Rinck
Postdoctoral Fellow, Asia Research Institute, NUS, Singapore
|
Panel 3: Precarity and Possibility: Transnational Migrant Labour, Life-Making & Legalities in Malaya/Sia |
| 4 |
Team Sajag-Nepal
|
Sajag-Nepal: Preparedness and Planning for the Mountain Hazard and Risk Chain |
| 5 |
Sanjaya Aryal
University of Essex
|
Is a Win-Win Possible in International Recruitment and Mobility of Health and Care Workforce? |
| 6 |
Prakash B K
PhD Scholar, Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, USA
|
Mapping the Biocultural Dimensions of Caste and its Effects on the Mental Health Wellbeing of Dalits in Nepal |
| 7 |
Akshay Balan
Field Representative, Worker Rights Consortium
Anisha Maini
Research Associate, StepChange
Avantika Jhunjhunwala
Research Associate, Social Science Baha/Visiting Faculty, Kathmandu University
Avita Singh
Guest Faculty, University of Bhopal
Bibhuti Malla
Consulting Senior Associate, ERM India Pvt. Ltd
Srinjit Venkatesh
Research Analyst, Square Panda Education India
|
Religiosity and Covid-19: A Study of Daily Religious Practices in Kathmandu and Delhi |
| 8 |
Lila Bahadur Bishwakarma
Teacher, Kallery Secondary School, Dhading, Nepal
|
The Life-World of Dalits in Great Himalayan Trail (GHT- lower route) in Nepal |
| 9 |
Mason Brown
Independent scholar
|
Translating Sargam: Issues and Obstacles with South Asian Notation and Sibelius |
| 10 |
Shak Bahadur Budhathoki
Lifelong Learning Mandala
|
The State of Policy and Practice on Complaint Hearing and its Implication in Creating a Safe Learning Environment in Schools |
| 11 |
Kritika Chettri
Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of North Bengal, India
|
Popular Articulations from Post War Nepal |
| 12 |
Wu Di
Postdoctoral Researcher, Assistant Researcher, School of Ethnology and Sociology, Yunnan University, China
|
Night Life of Miss Budweiser and Mr. Dance: A Study of Nepalese Cross-Border Migrant Workers in Nangma Bar of Kerong, Tibet |
| 13 |
Rahul Ganguly
PhD Scholar, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi, India
|
Desiring the State? Political Imaginaries in the Darjeeling Hills after the Gorkhaland Andolan of 2017 |
| 14 |
Amit Gautam
Research Officer, Social Science Baha
Samiksha Neupane
Senior Research Associate, CESLAM, Social Science Baha
|
From Frontier to Finances: Unravelling the Impact of Border Securitisation on Income Opportunities for Local Residents in Susta |
| 15 |
Dipak Ghising
PhD Scholar, Rural Development, Tribhuvan University
|
Participation of Executive Members vs General Members in Decision-Making of the Plan Implementation Process at the Local Level |
| 16 |
Anna Hata
PhD Scholar, University College London, United Kingdom
|
Using Intersectionality to Centre Complex Experiences of Injustices and Resistance of Marginalised Children in Education in Nepal |
| 17 |
Chaaru Jain
Project Manager and Art Educator, Srijanalaya
|
To Partner and Influence? A Post-Colonial Approach to Dissecting the Historical Narratives about the Gurkhas |
| 18 |
Phoenix Kenney
PhD Scholar, University of Cambridge
|
What Makes a Peer? Understanding Peer Work Dynamics in Kathmandu’s Youth Sector |
| 19 |
Pranab Kharel
Member, Martin Chautari
|
Understanding Social Movement through the Life of its Actors: A case of Madhes Movement |
| 20 |
Tek Raj Koirala
PhD Scholar International Relation, South Asian University, New Delhi
|
A Case Study of Gorkhali: Private Military and Security Companies in Global Security Assemblages |
| 21 |
Nabraj Lama
Research Scholar, Himalayan Strategic Institute
|
Beyond Politics and Diplomacy: A Dive into Local Sentiments of both Nepal and India surrounding the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project |
| 22 |
Niraj Lawoju
PhD Scholar, School of International Studies, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
|
Teaching Chinese Culture: Perception of Nepali Students studying in China |
| 23 |
Mahendra Lawoti
Professor, Department of Political Science, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo
|
The Good, Bad and Ugly Nationalism: Minority Nationalism Countering Hegemonic Racist Nationalism in Multi-Ethnic Nepal |
| 24 |
Xing Li
PhD Scholar, Department of Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong
|
Ongoing Legal and Bureaucratic Interventions in the Land Market in Nepal: An Ethnographic Study of Land Use Act (2076) and Land Use Regulations (2079) |
| 25 |
Chhatra Bahadur Limbu
Researcher, Social Science Baha
|
Factors Associated with Smartphone Addiction Among High School Students in Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City, Sunsari |
| 26 |
HAI Lu
Lecturer & Research Associate, Institute of International Relations, University, GuangZhou, China
|
Diversity, Multi-Level and Mobility：An Ethnographic Study on Social Networks of the Tibetan in Nepal |
| 27 |
Sujit Maharjan
Researcher, Social Science Baha
|
Challenges Faced by Partially Visually Impaired English Language Learners and How they Overcame them |
| 28 |
Lopita Nath
Professor and Chair of History, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas
|
Where is my Shangri-la? Conceptualizing the Idea of a Homeland in the Bhutanese Refugee Experience |
| 29 |
Josef Neubauer
PhD Scholar, Department for Migration and Globalisation, University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria
|
The power of Policy: How Immigration Policy Changes in South/East Europe Reshape Migration Strategies and Inequalities in Nepal |
| 30 |
Rajib Neupane
Research Associate, Social Science Baha
|
China and India in Nepal: What Does it Entail? |
| 31 |
Sabin Ninglekhu
Principal Investigator, Heritage as Placemaking, Social Science Baha
|
The ‘Quiet Encroachment’? A Parable of Cross-border Movements between Ayodhya and Janakpurdham |
| 32 |
Rajan Binayek Pasa
Assistant Professor, Central Department of Rural Development, Tribhuvan University
|
Livelihood and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Applying in Lower-Great Himalayan Trail, Nepal |
| 33 |
Prem Phyak
Associate Professor, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA
|
Students as Policed Subjects: Language Policing and the Violation of Right to Speak in Schools |
| 34 |
Bade Qunzhu
Lecturer, Qinghai Minzu University, China; Ph.D. Scholar, Ethnography, Qinghai Minzu University, China
|
Trans-Himalayan Mobility and Modernity: An Ethnographic Study on Eco-tourism in Sino-Nepal Border Gyirong Valley |
| 35 |
Amir Raja
Lecturer, Madan Bhandari Memorial College, Kathmandu
|
Exploring the Socialization Process and Gender Construction among the Muslim Community of Kalaiya, Bara |
| 36 |
Chitra Rawat
Research and Operations Manager, India Migration Now
|
At the Crossroads of Ritual and Commercial: Representation of ‘Dotiyal’ in Goril Devta Jagar from Uttarakhand |
| 37 |
Shristi Shakya
MPhil Scholar, Development Studies, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford
|
Unpacking the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Framework in Nepal |
| 38 |
Rajendra Sharma
Senior Research Associate, Social Science Baha
|
Navigating Social Leadership and Community Governance: Transitioning Community Leadership in Tharu Community |
| 39 |
Sanjay Sharma
Independent Scholar
|
Decolonising Fieldwork: A Methodological Turn in Social Research |
| 40 |
Ranu Sherpa
Research Scholar, Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India
|
Contours of Identity in the Eastern Himalayas: Linguistic Dynamics and Cultural Choices among Indian Nepalis Explored through Literary Analysis |
| 41 |
Sudhir Shrestha
Knowledge Management Officer, South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication; Visiting Faculty, Kathmandu University School of Management (KUSOM)
|
Tea Production in Nepal: Smallholders’ Challenges and Their Experimentation with Farmer-Based Organisations |
| 42 |
Smriti Shreya
PhD Scholar, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
|
Development and Preservation Dilemma in the Himalayas: Navigating Cultural Transformations |
| 43 |
Michael D. Smith
Researcher, Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute (RYI)
|
Types of Spiritual Song (Mgur, Dohā) in 18th Century Dolpa |
| 44 |
Paulina Stanik
PhD Scholar, University of Warsaw, Poland
|
Unbalanced Power: The Role of the British in the Polish-South Asian World War Two Relations |
| 45 |
Anna Stirr
Director, Centre for South Asian Studies; Associate Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawaii Manoa
|
Notating Sorati: Subi Shah’s Nepali Dance Notation, Ideas of Nationalism, and the Classical |
| 46 |
Ramesh Sunam
Adjunct Professor, Waseda University, Tokyo
|
Interrogating Youth Entrepreneurship in Agriculture in Nepal |
| 47 |
Diksha Tamang
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Purash-Kanpur Haridas Nandi Mahavidyalaya, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India.
|
Socio-Cultural Organisation and the Construction of Gorkha/Nepali Identity in the Darjeeling Hills: A Study of Nepali Sahitya Sammelan (NSS) and Gorkha Dukha Niwarak Sammelan (GDNS) |
| 48 |
Rajendra Raj Timilsina
Chief, Nepal Television Itahari Channel (NTV Itahari)
|
Nepali Gurukuls under CCTV Surveillance from Abroad: Lived Experiences |
| 49 |
Lalita Waldia
Field Researcher
|
Changing Life Pattern of Tribal Women: Kumaoni Bhotia of Uttarakhand |
| 50 |
Todd John Wallenius
Assistant Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies, Handong Global University, Pohang, South Korea
Karen Valentin
Associate Professor, Department of Educational Anthropology, School of Education, Aarhus University
|
The Logic of Comparison of Education in Nepal |
| 51 |
Ramawatar Yadav
Former Vice Chancellor, Purbanchal University
|
AUX–Forms in Mid–Maithili — With Special Reference to Medieval Archival Literary Texts of Maithili Dramas and Songs Composed by Newar Kings of Nepālamaṇḍala |
| 52 |
Sabin Bahadur Zoowa
Lecturer, Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences
|
The Social Construction of Boksi in Tamang Community in Kavrepalachowk District |