Nepal Study Center

Global connectivity and knowledge sharing
With a focus on the countries in the Himalayan region and South Asia

Through global connectivity, the Nepal Study Center (NSC) at the University of New Mexico (UNM) is dedicated to fostering intellectual collaboration and sharing knowledge with a dedicated focus and wider perspective on the socio-economic development and sustainability, health, technology transfer, and environmental issues of the Himalayan region and the countries in South Asia.

NSC at a glance: NSC conducts research and trains scholars; holds annual conferences; publishes e-journals; maintains working papers archive; builds regional strategic academic partnerships through MOUs; and helps promote knowledge sharing through workshops and seminars at UNM and at its regional office at Kathmandu University. Click for Nepal Study Center Brochure.

Mission statements

RESEARCH at NSC : to carry out high quality research (environment, resources, food security, poverty mapping, health, climate change, sustainable development, governance etc.) and train scholars from the region. MORE

ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND SHARING KNOWLEDGE: to build platforms (annual conferences, e-seminar, e-journals, and lecture series) to bring together scholars for knowledge sharing. MORE

INTERNATIONAL PARTERNSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS : to build educational and research related institutional linkages between North America and the Himalayan region (MOUs, research programs, Study Abroad). MORE

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: to promote and transfer innovative ideas (fighting poverty through technology, e-micro finance, e-learning, telehealth, and community engagement). MORE

DIASPORA KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY: to understand and harness the diaspora knowledge society through digital connectivity, research, and various analysis. MORE

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY: to establish a research oriented graduate program in economics and public policy in the region to promote empirically driven quality policy analysis, and to create a hub for international scholars for knowledge sharing with the local scholars and policy makers. MORE

NSC has built various physical and virtual resources to carry out these tasks. NSC has a research room at UNM, and is registered under the university as a not-for-profit center.

NSC-UNM's regional office in Kathmandu
UNM's Provost and KU's Vice Chancellor have jointly inagurated a NSC's regional branch office facility at Kathmandu University (Kathmandu University School of Management complex). A coordinator at NSC-UNM's branch office at KU in Kathmandu will coordinate various research and knowledge sharing efforts in the region.

Strategic regional partners in South Asia
ICIMOD, the 8-Country Himalayan University Consortium (HUC), and Kathmandu University (KU): In November 2009, University of New Mexico Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Suzanne Ortega signed two MOUs: one with Kathmandu University (KU) and other with International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu. Now, UNM is an associate member of the 8-Country Himalayan University Consortium (HUC), an initiative of the ICIMOD to promote capacity building and research collaborations. To find out more about the HUC activities and the news announcements, click here:MORE

Amartya Sen on this century’s challenges: "..it's a question of taking an adequately broad view of economics, along with its neighboring discipline, and it's also a question of paying more attention to those who are most likely to lose when a crisis hits." (1998 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics)

Conferences, talks, and webinar >Call for Abstracts: Eighth Annual 2013 HPRC Conference at Madison October 17, 2013 Cross-cultural Student Community Engagement: Himalayan Study Abroad Program >Himalayan Study Abroad Program: Environment and Society at the Top of the World >Photos: Himalayan Study Abroad Program display at the International Studies Fair, UNM, Sept.11, 2008 NSC in the News >Two diaspora scholars (Dr. Bhandari and Dr. Bhattarai) to give seminar and conduct workshops at NSC-UNM's regional office at KU (Summer 2010) > UNM faculty (Dr. Alverson, Dr. Bohara, Dr. Hauswald, and Dr. Wachter) attend a conference on "Telemedicine" organized by ANMF (June 11-13, 2010, Flagstaff) >Deputu Director General of ICIMOD, Dr. Madhav Karki, visits UNM (May 2010) >Professor Dale Alverson of Telehealth Center of UNM visits Kathmandu University (March 2010) >New Mexico Daily Lobo, University of New Mexico >UNM Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Suzanne Ortega's Kathmandu Visit (Nov 26-Dec 6, 2009) >Vice Chancellor of Kathmandu University professor Suresh R. Sharma and Dean of School of Management on a goodwill visit to UNM

South Asia Resources:
>South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE)
>South Asian News
>The World Bank Group: South Asia
>One World South Asia
>International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Making a Difference:
> Telehealth, Environment, and Telemicrofinanc: An Experiment in Integrative Development in the Networked Cluster of High Altitude Himalayan Villages
> Himalayan Volunteer and Knowledge Sharing Initiative