Nepal 2010
Ends: 31 Jul 2010
Supervisor: Ashok Gurung
Language Requirement: Nepali Language course offered.
Required course: Society and Politics in Nepal
Concentrations: Governance and Rights, Development, Conflict and Security, Media and Culture
In its 3rd year, the IFP Nepal offers students a unique opportunity to work directly with journalists, scholars, policy-makers, NGOs/INGOs and government agencies in a country in the midst of historical political and social transition. In its early phases of experimental democracy and nation-building, Nepal is seeing the development of an inclusive society where diverse voices from the multiethnic and multicultural populations can have a stake in writing the new government. Contentious issues are being debated ranging from climate change to civil rights issues in relation to writing a new inclusive Constitution, and students are given an exciting opportunity to research a variety of these development issues within the context of this political transformation.
In conjunction with the Nepal Democracy and Development Initiative (NDDI) of the India China Institute (ICI) at the New School and the Nepal Institute of Development Studies (NIDS) in Kathmandu, students are supported in conducting their own applied research for host client organizations during their internship and in their own personal research projects. This exclusive accessibility to high profile actors in Nepali policy-making and politics have allowed students in the past to speak to key politicians, receive mentorship from prominent Nepali scholars, and to be published in national newspapers. By the end of the program, students will have developed a first-hand experience in conducting applied research and working in the development field.
Program Overview:
The required course - Society and Politics in Nepal - offered during the Spring Semester is specifically designed to give students an analytical framework to understand the politics of Nepal and to prepare students in focusing their research projects for the summer.
The 8-week program in Kathmandu Valley is comprised of a mandatory orientation, a full-time internship, weekly meetings with the IFP group and coordinators, coordinated field research opportunities in the rural areas, and optional group trips.
In addition, students will be placed in home-stays with Nepali families which will provide an in-depth, immersive experience into Nepali society.
Potential Internship Organizations:
Blue Diamond Society
National Democratic Institute
Jagaran Media Center
Samata Institute
International Center for Peace and Development
Alternative Energy Promotion Center
Lotus Energy
Center for Microfinance
LASANAA: an Alternative Art Space
National Coalition Against Racial Discrimination
National Foundation for the Development of Indigenous Nationalities
Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities
Nepal Institute for Development Studies
Save the Children USA