Social Science Baha

Baha Lecture Series

As part of the Social Science Baha Lecture Series, the Baha has been providing a forum to local and visiting scholars to present their work and interact with the larger public in an open lecture format. The Lecture Series is a not a periodic event but rather is held whenever there is someone ready to make a presentation. The following are the lectures hosted by the Baha so far.

Note: Audio versions of lectures are available online from Lecture Series XXI onwards, and also available are abstracts from Lecture Series XI and later.

Series Title/Speaker
CXIV

Democratising Democracy

June 19, 2024 Speaker: Vijayendra Rao
CXIII

Migration during Climate Change: Broadening the Discourse beyond Disaster Displacement and Failure to Adapt

May 14, 2024 Speaker: Amina Maharjan
CXII

Ethnic Bias, Migration, and the Formation of New Social Identities among Returnees in Nepal

April 10, 2024 Speaker: Slesh A. Shrestha
CXI

Migration and Development: Spring of Hope or Winter of Despair?

November 9, 2023 Speaker: Jonathan Rigg
CX

Two-Party to Multi-Party System in Nepal: Causes and Consequences of Consolidation

August 17, 2023 Speaker: Mahendra Lawoti
CIX

Nepal’s Great Transformation? Political Economy of Social Change and Development in Nepal

August 7, 2023 Speaker: Jeevan R. Sharma
CVIII

Images and/as Language in Kathmandu’s Older and Vulnerable Deaf Person’s Project

January 24, 2023 Speaker: Erika Hoffmann-Dilloway
CVII

Why Embracing Uncertainty Means Rethinking Development

October 20, 2022 Speaker: Ian Scoones
CVI

A Brief History of Lo Gekhar Monastery, Mustang

September 5, 2022 Speaker: Christian Luczanits
CV

Bringing Back the Gods: Activism and Repatriation of Cultural Objects in Asia

August 25, 2022 Speaker: Emiline Smith
CIV

What Does Democracy Sound Like? Āwāj as Metaphor and Material of Democratic Practice

August 14, 2019 Speaker: Laura Kunreuther
CIII

(After)life as Ground Zero of an Industrial Beginning Death of the Garment Industry in Nepal

June 13, 2019 Speaker: Mallika Shakya
CII

From Military to Market Political Economies of Private Military and Security Companies

May 15, 2019 Speaker: Amanda Chisholm
CI

Nepali Labour Migration to Japan From Sojourners to Settlers?

April 22, 2019 Speaker: Keiko Yamanaka
C

Nepal’s Development Predicaments through the Lens of Cultural Theory

November 21, 2018 Speaker: Dipak Gyawali
XCIX

Disasters, Development and Building Codes

August 2, 2018 Speaker: Bishnu Pandey
XCVIII

Indigenous Resurgence in Canada Implications for Nepal?

July 30, 2018 Speaker: Mark Turin
XCVIII

Surplus and Security India’s National River-Linking Project and Its Implications for River-Sharing Agreements in South Asia

June 25, 2018 Speaker: Trevor Birkenholtz
XCVI

Situating Muslim Nepal in Islamic South Asia Historical Themes, Directions for Future Study, and the Case for Religion

June 20, 2018 Speaker: Megan Adamson Sijapati
XCV

The History and Future of Food (Especially Corn, Apples, and Chickens)

May 3, 2018 Speaker: Mart Stewart
XCIV

Elections, Parties and Alliances ​Observations from Abroad

November 27, 2017 Speaker: Karl-Heinz Krämer
XCIII

Climate Change in the Himalaya Implications, Adaptation Responses and Social-Ecological Vulnerability

November 20, 2017 Speaker: Rishikesh Pandey
XCII

Reflections on Working with Gurungs in the Last 50 Years

October 27, 2017 Speaker: Alan Macfarlane
XCI

Waves of Alterity: Korea-Nepal Engagement and the Challenge of Area Studies

August 1, 2017 Speaker: Heather Hindman
XC

Everybody Has a Story: New Approaches to Story Analysis in Far Western Nepal

April 10, 2017 Speaker: Walter Winkler
LXXXIX

Nepali Heritage and You

September 26, 2016 Speaker: Dipesh Risal
LXXXVIII

Reconstruction in Gujarat: Possible Lessons for Nepal

June 22, 2016 Speaker: Edward Simpson
LXXXVII

Conservation and Restoration of Alpine Ecosystems in the Himalaya and the Andes: New Challenges for the 21st Century

April 7, 2016 Speaker: Alton C. Byers
LXXXVI

Contracting and the Repercussions of Neo-Liberal Warfare in Nepal and Beyond

February 22, 2016 Speaker: Noah Coburn
LXXXV

Decolonizing the Social Sciences: Problems and Prospects

November 3, 2019 Speaker: Vivek Dhareshwar
LXXXIV

International Copyright and Domestic Exceptions: Wipo, Treaties, and the Politics of Libraries

September 3, 2015 Speaker: Kenneth D. Crews
LXXXIII

PARI: Strengthening Health Research in Nepal

April 6, 2015 Speaker: Edwin van Teijlingen
LXXXII

The Holy Mountains of Nepal

March 23, 2015 Speaker: Damien Francois
LXXXI

Redefining Human Rights Through the Lens of Critical Theory

January 5, 2015 Speaker: Sarah Paoletti
LXXX

Gods, Power and Common Folks: City and Religion in Kyoto, Japan

December 22, 2014 Speaker: Eiko Ikegami
LXXIX

The Bāhāḥs and Bahīs of Nepal: Thirty Years of Transformation, Preservation, and Innovation

July 3, 2014 Speaker: Bruce McCoy Owens
LXXVIII

When are Elections Bad for Democracy? Internationally Sponsored Elections in Post-Invasion Afghanistan

June 25, 2014 Speaker: Noah Coburn
LXXVII

Caste And The Republic: Critical Reflections On Modernity And Human Rights In South Asia

May 28, 2014 Speaker: Edward A. Rodrigues
LXXVI

Developing International Development: DDT And U.S. Environmental And Social Engineering In The Chitwan Valley, 1952-1965

May 20, 2014 Speaker: Thomas Robertson
LXXV

Securing Our Future Despite Our State: The Quest For Salaried Work Within Political Turmoil

April 30, 2014 Speaker: Amanda Snellinger
LXXIV

Summits Of Modern Man And Thresholds Of Climate Change: Mountaineering After The Enlightenment

April 23, 2014 Speaker: Peter H. Hansen
LXXIII

The Crisis Of Secularism In South Asia: Towards An Indo-Pakistani Convergence?

April 21, 2014 Speaker: Christophe Jaffrelot
LXXII

The Judiciary As A Political Actor In Pakistan

March 24, 2014 Speaker: Philip Oldenburg
LXXI

The Issue Of Indian Nepalis

March 19, 2014 Speaker: Awadesh Coomar Sinha
LXX

Is There Such a Thing as a Nepalese Diaspora? Reflections from India-, Qatar- and Web-based Nepalese Dispersed Communities

March 12, 2014 Speaker: Tristan Bruslé
LXIX

Self-Determination And Its Contestations: The Indian Experience

October 28, 2013 Speaker: Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya
LXVIII

The Path to Prosperity for Developing Economies

August 6, 2013 Speaker: William Ruger
LXVII

India’s Second World War

April 16, 2013 Speaker: Yasmin Khan
LXVI

Agrarian Relations And Rural Poverty

March 25, 2013 Speaker: Magnus Hatlebakk
LXV

Revisiting the Concept of ‘Prana’ in Nepali and Indian Art

February 28, 2013 Speaker: Gautama V. Vajracharya
LXIV

Peace: Four Components

February 14, 2013 Speaker: Johan Galtung
LXIII

Something Big And Glorious And Magnificently Insane’: Hippie Kathmandu

January 9, 2013 Speaker: Mark Liechty
LXII

Access To Appropriate Medicines: Challenges For Nepal

December 20, 2012 Speaker: Roger Jeffery
LXI

The Rise Of China And Its Implications For Indo-Lanka Relations

December 13, 2012 Speaker: Neil De Votta
LX

Christianity And Nepali Society

December 4, 2012 Speaker: John Whelpton
LIX

The Mystery Of Shakti Yogmaya: Politics Or Religion?

November 2, 2012 Speaker: Barbara Nimri Aziz
LVIII

Kathmandu Journey: Sir Ivor Jennings In Nepal (28 March-24 April 1958)

July 26, 2012 Speaker: Mara Malagodi
LVII

Nepal Diary: Reflections And Impressions

July 5, 2012 Speaker: Rachel Stevens
LVI

Border Effects: Analytical Issues In Border Crossing

May 29, 2012 Speaker: Jeevan Raj Sharma
LV

Migration During Armed Conflict: A New Look At Variability In Migration Decisions

April 19, 2012 Speaker: Nathalie E. Williams
LIV

Anthropology And Development Policy: A Difficult Relationship?

March 30, 2012 Speaker: David Mosse
LIII

Ethnicity In The University: Heterogeneity And Inequality

March 19, 2012 Speaker: Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka
LII

Chittadhar Hridaya’s Sugata Saurabha: The Known And Unknown In The Composition Of The Epic

March 6, 2012 Speaker: Todd Lewis and Subarna Man Tuladhar
LI

The Multi-Local Livehihoods Of Bajhangis

February 23, 2012 Speaker: Ulrike Muller-Boker
L

Shaping Secularism In Nepal

January 9, 2012 Speaker: Chiara Letizia
XLIX

The Iconisation Of Yogmaya Neupane

May 4, 2011 Speaker: Michael Hutt
XLVIII

A More Social Military? Or A More Militarized Sociology? Human Terrain Teams And The ‘New’ Army

April 22, 2011 Speaker: Paul Joseph
XLVII

Cultural Theory And Clumsiness: Some Lessons From Nepal

March 28, 2011 Speaker: Michael Thompson
XLVI

The Structural Landscape Of Social Science Journals Published From Nepal

March 14, 2011 Speaker: Pratyoush Onta
XLV

World Heritage In The Global Tourism Market: Consumption Versus Cosmic Order

February 24, 2011 Speaker: Kurt Luger
XLIV

Legal Pluralism In The Supreme Court: Law, Religion, And Culture Concerning Women’s Rights In Nepal

February 11, 2011 Speaker: Rajendra Pradhan
XLIII

Growing Old In Nepal: The Impact Of Social And Economic Changes In The Chitwan Valley

November 14, 2010 Speaker: Amy Pienta
XLII

Deliberative Governance: Reframing Democracy

October 9, 2010 Speaker: John Dryzek
XLI

Mediaeval Maithili Stagecraft In The Nepalamandala The Bhaktapur School

August 2, 2010 Speaker: Ramawatar Yadav
XL

Challenges Of Sustainable Peace Building And Demilitarizing Development In Post-Conflict Sri Lanka: One Year After The War

July 6, 2010 Speaker: Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake
XXXIX

Humanitarianism In The 21st Century: Lessons From Afghanistan And Other Crises

April 15, 2010 Speaker: Antonio Donini
XXXVIII

Apparent Horizons: South Asia From Its Borderlands

March 30, 2010 Speaker: Willem Van Schendel
XXXVII

Levels Of Narration In The MahāBhāRata

January 27, 2010 Speaker: Amiya Dev
XXXV

Landscape And Life History In The Himalaya

January 11, 2010 Speaker: David Zurick
XXXVI

Politics Without Guarantees: Gramsci, Uneven Development, And The Constitution Of A ‘People’

January 8, 2010 Speaker: Vinay Gidwani
XXXIV

Nepali Muslims, Islamic Revival, And The ‘New Nepal’: A Look At Secularism, Religion, And The Politicisation Of Identities

January 4, 2010 Speaker: Megan Adamson Sijapati
XXXIII

From Liberal Democracy To Authoritarian State: A Tale Of Constitutional Evolution In Sri Lanka And Possible Lessons For Nepal

December 4, 2009 Speaker: Arjun Guneratne
XXXII

The Fragile Yam: Nepali ‘Stateness’ And The Renegotiation Of Gendered Citizenship

November 29, 2009 Speaker: Seira Tamang
XXXI

The Linguistic Survey Of Sikkim: Mother Tongues In Education And Public Policy

April 14, 2009 Speaker: Mark Turin
XXX

Nepal: Opportunities And Threats-The Dilemmas Of Transition

March 12, 2009 Speaker: David Seddon
XXIX

Epistemological, Methodological, And Theoretical Dependency: Postmodernism In Development Studies

March 8, 2009 Speaker: Ravi Bhandari
XXVIII

Discourse Ethics As A Framework For Intercultural Environmental Philosophy

September 24, 2008 Speaker: Konrad Ott
XXVII

Development In The Republic Of Nepal: Some Thoughts And Reflections

September 16, 2008 Speaker: John Cameron
XXVI

Emergent Forests: Networks, Subjectivity, And The Governance Of Natural Resources

September 4, 2008 Speaker: Andrea Nightingale
XXV

Democracy, Accountability, And A New Nepal

August 21, 2008 Speaker: Mahendra Lawoti
XXIV

Racial Thinking In Nepal Origins And Contemporary Political Uses

June 22, 2008 Speaker: Susan Hangen
XXII

Unravelling The Mosaic: Spatial Dimensions Of Ethnicity In Nepal

June 15, 2008 Speaker: Pitamber Sharma
XXI

Nepali Masculinities: Ranas, Shahs, And Gurkhas

June 1, 2008 Speaker: Sanjeev Uprety
XX

Oral History And Its Social Context In Dullu, Western Nepal

October 28, 2007 Speaker: Marie Lecomte-Tilouine
XIX

Nepali History As World History

June 20, 2007 Speaker: Bernardo A. Michael
XVIII

A Preliminary Critique Of The World Bank/DFID Summary Report Unequal Citizens: Gender, Caste, And Ethnic Exclusions In Nepal

December 3, 2006 Speaker: Rajendra Pradhan
XVII

The Maoists And The Shamans: A Tale Of Bullets, Hail, And Prejudices

November 19, 2006 Speaker: Anne de Sales
XVI

Script And Orality In The Kiranti Language Movement

April 12, 2006 Speaker: Martin Gaenszle
XV

Doing Field Work In The United States Of America And Nepal: Some Cross-Cultural Experiences

March 17, 2006 Speaker: Dilli Ram Dahal
XIV

Globalization And The Securitization Of Migration: The Context Of Nepali Foreign Labour Migrants And Sustainable Livelihood

December 16, 2005 Speaker: Jagannath Adhikari
XIII

Mapping Actors In Carpet Production In The Kathmandu Valley: A Relational Economic Geography

October 27, 2005 Speaker: Elvira Graner
XII

Missions And Medicine In Nepal: Some Anthropological Reflections

August 9, 2004 Speaker: Ian Harper
XI

The State, Ethnic Diversity And The Development Of National Identity: Comparisons Between Nepal And The British Isles

July 26, 2004 Speaker: John Whelpton
X

Exclusionary Democratization In Nepal: Political Institutions And Elite Attitudes In Comparative Perspective

June 1, 2004 Speaker: Mahendra Lawoti
IX

Rebuilding Buddhism: Transnational Theravada Revivalism In Nepal

May 27, 2004 Speaker: David Gellner
VIII

Sufism In South Asia: A Meeting Point For Secularism

April 15, 2004 Speaker: Asghar Ali Engineer
VII

Women, Ideology, And Agency In Nepal’s Maoist Movement

January 15, 2004 Speaker: Judith Pettigrew
VI

Thirty Years Of Change In A Northwestern Tamang Village

November 26, 2003 Speaker: Kathryn March
IV

Power Sharing: Learning Lessons From Switzerland

August 12, 2003 Speaker: Walter Kaelin
III

Opening The Chest Of Nepal’s History: The Survey Of Brian Houghton Hodgson’s Manuscripts From The British Library And Royal Asiatic Society

July 1, 2003 Speaker: Ramesh Dhungel
II

Political Culture, Political Participation, And Political Leadership

January 9, 2003 Speaker: Joe Heim
I

Bhutanese Refugees: Some Reflections On The Past And Present

July 19, 2002 Speaker: Michael Hutt