The UBC Himalaya Program held several intriguing talks and lectures in the 2024-25 academic year. Featuring three expert scholars these talks offered a valuable space to explore emerging discourse about ecology, national politics, and indigeneity in the context of the Himalayan region. These events included a talk on “Witnessing The Himalayan (M)Anthropocene” with Dr. Ritodhi Chakraborty, an intriguing discussion on “Are Tibetans Indigenous? The Political Stakes and Potentiality of the Translation of Indigeneity” with Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang, and a lecture on “Dreams of Equality and Nepal’s Federal Constitution” by Dr. Mukta S. Lama.
Dr. Tsering Shakya introducing Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang (image credits: Si Ming Zheng)
Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang sharing her research (image credits: Si Ming Zheng)
Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang sharing her research (image credits: Si Ming Zheng)
The discussion included engaging questions from the UBC Community ((image credits: Si Ming Zheng)
Continuing the conversation with the audience (image credits: Si Ming Zheng)
Continuing the conversation with the audience (image credits: Si Ming Zheng)
One of the critical conversations the program hosted this year was a consideration of how settler domination operates when those involved are neither white nor Western. In November 2024, we hosted Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang, a Tibetan-American political and historical anthropologist, who addressed this thought-provoking question. Dr. Lokyitsang challenged the notion that settler colonialism is exclusively a Western construct, underscoring for instance China’s enduring imperial influence in Asia.
The Himalaya Program holds similar discussions through out the year. We also strive to make many of these conversations accessible to a wider audience through publicly available recordings which can be viewed here.
Learn more about the Himalaya Program here.
