The Fulbright Commission in Nepal hosts Kristen Zipperer, a 2019 U.S. Fulbright Student Researcher to Nepal, to present her dissertation research on Nepal’s democratic transition, focusing on the borderland of Birgunj, its local politics, and the media. She is currently a PhD candidate at Harvard University, and holds a BA from the University of Washington with a double major in international development studies and South Asian studies.
Her research focuses on political authority, power, borders, visibility, and visual culture in South Asia. The event will also feature Vikram Upadhyay, Head of Strategy and Development at Sano Paila, the non-profit organization that hosted Kristen while she conducted her research at Birgunj. Sano Paila’s focus areas span from youth empowerment, drug rehabilitation, health improvement and advocacy, peacebuilding, crime prevention, and reformation to anti- trafficking and child protection, access to education, livelihood enhancement, and crisis response organizing. Sano Paila tackles complicated problems with local solutions that ensure a degree of sustainability built into their projects.
2016 Nepali Fulbright Foreign Student, Sarita Sapkota, will lead the panel and speak on being a Fulbright Master’s grantee. She was awarded a Fulbright grant to attend George Washington University for a Master’s in public policy. She is interested in and has undertaken research on reforming government policies and programs in areas such as trade, public service delivery, public enterprises, infrastructure, and competition policy, to expand economic opportunities and effectively address livelihood challenges in Nepal.