Save the date! Join Pawo Choyning Dorji on 23rd September, 2026 at 6:00 pm for the screening of his Oscar-nomiated film, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom. Shot in one of the most remote schools in Bhutan, the film explores the value of education and the universal longing to find where you belong.
Nepal Heritage Day, 2026
UBC Himalaya Program participates in the first-ever BC Nepal Heritage Day
Figure 1: Cultural Dance Performance
On May 30th, 2026, more than 700 community members gathered at the Taj Park Convention Centre in Surrey to celebrate BC Nepal Heritage Day for the first time. Proclaimed by Premier David Eby, this day recognizes the social, economic, political, and cultural contributions of the Nepali diaspora to British Columbia and to Canada as a whole. The event celebrated the multicultural heritage of Nepal, honoring the traditions of the many ethnic communities – from the high Himalayas to the Terai plains. The celebration began with a Naumati Baja ensemble welcoming the guests, followed by opening remarks from the President of the Nepal Cultural Society of BC. Premier David Eby then delivered a keynote address highlighting the importance of preserving BC’s diverse cultures and supporting the preservation of Nepali heritage in Canada. The program continued with cultural dance performances representing Nepal’s diverse ethnic communities, featured in “Purva to Paschim: A Musical Journey from the East to West”. Faculty and students affiliated with the UBC Himalaya Program met with Premier Eby, highlighting the work the program does to foster community through Nepali language teaching, the newly launched Nepali Open Educational Resource, and research collaboration.
Figure 2: UBC Program Representative with Premier David Eby and colleagues
Figure 3:UBC Himalaya Program faculty and students at the Nepal Heritage Day celebration
At the event, members of the Himalaya program launched The Introduction to the Nepali Language, a free, open educational resource (OER) for learning Nepali. Please stay tuned for the next post for more updates on the OER.
Introduction to the Nepali Language
An open educational resource, by Binod Shrestha, Mark Turin and Salina Dolmo Lama, launched on BC Nepal Heritage Day, 30 May 2026
Learning from Disasters in Scholarship & Practice: A South-North Knowledge Exchange between Nepal and British Columbia
“Learning from Disasters in Scholarship and Practice: A South-North Knowledge Exchange between Nepal and British Columbia” was held on March 10, 2026, in the Place of Many Trees at the Liu Institute for Global Issues on the traditional, ancestral, unceded lands of the xʷməθkʷəy ̓əm (Musqueam), where the University of British Columbia (UBC) is situated. The workshop was convened by Sara Shneiderman, as the Ivan Head South-North IDRC Chair, and was co-sponsored by UBC’s Disaster Resilience Research Network (DRRN), Himalaya Program, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in Critical Infrastructure Studies, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA), and Faculty of Arts, along with the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) through a knowledge exchange grant.
The workshop aimed to facilitate a mutual exchange of policy-relevant knowledge between the Global South and Global North to support the development of disaster risk reduction strategies for the future. It also sought to develop a plan for ongoing knowledge exchange and collaborative research partnership.
Please read the full workshop report here: https://drrn.ubc.ca/learning-disasters-scholarship-practice
“Let Your Confidence Shine?” Young Women’s Labour and Unequal Futures in Urban Nepal
Save the date! Join Anne Kukuczka, a visiting international research student (VIRS) at UBC who is a PhD candidate at the University of Zurich, as she explores the experiences of Nepali women in the labour market on 14th July 2026 at 12:30 PM.
Curator Tour of Entangled Territories
Save the date! Join Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura, curator of Entangled Territories: Tibet Through Images, for a special tour of the exhibition on 14th March 2026, at 3:15 PM.
Entangled Territories: A Panel Discussion
Save the date! Join us on 14th March, 2026, at 2:00 PM for a special discussion about Entangled Territories: Tibet Through Images, with Tsering Yangzom Lama and Dr. Kabir Mansingh Heimsath, facilitated by Dr. Fuyubi Nakamura.
Entangled Territories: Conversations on Home + Diasporas
Save the date! Join us on 11th March, 2026, at 5:30 PM for a special conversation with Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang, Dr. Tsering Dolkar Watermeyer, and Nawang Tsering Gurung as they reflect on what homeland means for diasporic Tibetan community members.
Disaster Governance, Infrastructural Development, and Migration: Pathways of Connection between Nepal and Europe
Save the date! Join us on 9th March, 2026, at 12:30 PM for a special conversation with Dr. Sara Shneiderman and Dr. Jeevan Baniya as they explore how European funding is flowing into Nepal to support infrastructure development and “good governance” at the local level.