Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS)

Originally established as the Institute of Nepal Studies in 1969, it was renamed as the Institute of Nepal and Asian Studies in 1972 with both teaching and research activities responsibility. In 1977, the Institute was converted into a purely research centre baptizing it as the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS). CNAS is a statutory research centre under Tribhuvan University for conducting independent research and deliberation on issues and studies in social sciences. The main substantive activity at the Centre is carried out by the research wings called Faculty while the administrative and documentation centre provide support services. CNAS is a multidisciplinary research centre with a team of about 19 full-time researchers.

Objectives

The objectives of the Centre include the following;

· To study political, social, economic, humanitarian and other challenges of national integration from diverse disciplinary perspectives;

· To promote and undertake studies on current development issues, ethnic diversities, gender, migration, sociolinguistic and cultural studies of Nepal and other Asian countries;

· To encourage and maintain international academic exchange, affiliation and coordination of research activities of Nepali and foreign scholars; and

· To organize national and international seminars and conferences and disseminate its research publications.

Research Priority

The following are the priority areas of the Center’s research:

· Study and assess the social response to development programs and its implications in terms of various policy options;

· Examine localized Nepali societies to arrive at fuller appreciation and understanding of those aspects of traditional cultures that contribute to national identity;

· Conflict studies, security of small states, politics, development and inter-state relations in South Asia; and

· Area studies, particularly political economic and strategic developments in the near approximate regions of Asia.

Human Resources

Academic Staff:

Currently CNAS has the following research academic manpower:

Administrative Supporting staffs are as follows:

As the back up support to the researchers, the centre is staffed under a Deputy Administrator along with 1 Account officer, 2 Database Officers, 2 Documentation Officers, 8 Office Assistants, and 15 other logistic staffs.

Current Activities

A Research Project "Social Exclusion and Group Mobilization: An Examination of Household and Group Strategies for Overcoming Social Exclusion" has been launched jointly by CNAS and Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Planning (NIBR) since November 2006. This research project is supported by the Royal Norwegian overnment. The overall objective of the research is to examine social exclusion in Nepal from the perspective of excluded households and groups, and to explore how exclusion as a phenomenon experienced at the household level is linked to social, political, and military mobilization. Under the project CNAS has recently completed the household survey in 3,000 households in 4 different districts - Dhanusha, Banke, Sindhupalchowk and Surkhet. CNAS has recently completed a 3-year project "The (Micro) Politics of Democratization: European - South Asian Exchanges on Governance, Conflict and Civic Action" with partnership of other 3 Universities:, Bielefeld University, Germany, Oxford University, UK, and Colombo University, Sri Lanka under the European Commission, Europe Aid Cooperation. The project was launched with the aims of training scholars and developing academic cooperation between EU and South Asian countries in order to grasp the dynamics and problems of democratization and governance in Asia. Under this project CNAS has granted scholarships for 4 PhD students. Several scholars have visited different universities abroad of different countries, and organized two international seminars. CNAS has been conducting a research project "Towards a New History of the Medieval Region of Garhwal, West-Nepal, Kumaon and West- Tibet: the Central Himalaya" since February, 2006 with the aim of bringing the unrecorded medieval history of the Central Himalaya into light. It also aims at exploring the medieval trade and pilgrimage routes that run from India and Nepal to West Tibet as a link of Silk Road.

Publications:

For the past 36 years, CNAS has published more than 160 titles making a substantial contribution to the enrichment of the Nepali and Asian studies. CNAS’s premier publication is its biannual multidisciplinary journal, the Contributions to Nepalese Studies (ISSN 0376-7574). The journal contains contributions of contemporary academic interests written in Nepali as well as English languages. The Centre functions under Executive Director, who is both its academic and administrative head.

Prof. Dr. Yagya Prasad Adhikari, Ph.D.

Executive Director,

CNAS, Tribhuvan University

PO Box 3757

Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal

Tel: 977-1-4332078; 4331740; 4333223.

Fax: 977-1-4331184.

Website: http/ www.cnastu.org.np