my.CSMD
Nepalese Culture and Education Panel and पर्व Parva (Celebration)
October 10, 2024
02:00 PM - 04:30 PM
La Plata Campus, Campus Center (CC Building), Room 100 and Live via Zoom
Nepalese Cultural Educational Panel and पर्व Parva (Celebration)
October 10, 2024
2-4:30 p.m.
La Plata Campus, Campus Center (CC Building), Room 100 and Live via Zoom
The College of Southern Maryland’s Global Initiatives Committee is inviting students, staff, faculty, administrators, and the greater Southern Maryland community to the Nepalese Cultural Educational Panel and पर्व Parva.
Come learn about the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity in Nepal and the history of Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal. The panel will then move onto the topic of how Bhutanese refugees and Nepali immigrants, who are now in the U.S., negotiate their new spaces of life in the United States through their forced/learned multiculturalism and linguistic dexterity.
Schedule
- 2-2:45 p.m. - Nepali Folk Music
- 2:45-3:45 p.m. - Panel Discussion: "Cultural literacy and identity of Nepali diaspora in the U.S."
- 3:45 p.m. - Reception Nepali Cultural Gastronomy
Panelists
About Dr. Tika Lamsal
Dr. Tika Lamsal is an associate professor of rhetoric and language at the University of San Francisco. He teaches courses on rhetoric and composition, cross-cultural communication, and global rhetorics in both the Rhetoric and Language Department and MA in the Professional Communication Program. Through the lens of critical ethnography, his research examines the intersection of linguistic, cultural, and multimodal literacies of Nepali diaspora in U.S. contexts to demonstrate how the new immigrants and refugees negotiate their ways to academic, cultural, and economic transition by using linguistic and cultural resources in their new home.
About Kiran “Ron” Sitoula
Kiran “Ron” Sitoula immigrated from Nepal to earn a B.A. at Ohio Wesleyan University in accounting. Sitoula is a strong proponent of responsible, progressive ideals and civic engagement in the community. He believes in responsive and efficient local government. In May 2017, he visited Nepal to observe phase I of the local elections. He returned in December with a team from the University of Maryland and Maryland Municipal League at the request of the U.S. Embassy.
His team conducted a needs assessment and designed effective hybrid format of courses to help elected local official in Nepal. Kiran is the founding President of SEBS-North America, a not-for-profit high school alumni organization that raised half a million dollars together with other partners for post-earthquake related relief and reconstruction efforts in Nepal.
About Dr. Bishnu Ghimire
Dr. Bishnu Ghimire, Professor of English, College of Southern Maryland, holds a Ph.D. in English and an M.A. in communication studies. His areas of scholarly interests include 1) Postcolonialism, diaspora, and identity; 2) Contemporary English and anglophone world literature; and 3) Theories of language learning.
Dr. Ghimire is also actively associated with various professional organizations, like Postcolonial Text, College English Association Mid-Atlantic Group (CEA-MAG), and the Association of Faculties for Advancement of Community College Teaching (AFACCT).