Pitzer in Nepal Semester Program

Core Course: Culture, Change and Justice in Nepal

The core course combines lectures, readings, discussions, and extensive writing with the more experiential components of family stays, study trips, and field assignments. Through the course, students will become acquainted with some of the main historical, social, cultural, and political issues fundamental to Nepal’s modern identity. Students learn from Nepal’s leading figures in journalism, women’s health rights, and politics. 

Assignments focus on socio-cultural studies, kinship and family relations, development, environmental issues, health, and religion, requiring participants to use their Nepali language skills and integrate personal experiences from the culture with classroom learning. For Pitzer students, the core course will satisfy Pitzer’s Social Responsibility Praxis (SRX) requirement. 

Intensive Nepali Language

The aim of this course is to provide students with a basic working knowledge of the Nepali language and to promote communication and interaction with the people of Nepal. The approach to language learning emphasizes the ability to communicate an idea rather than acquiring perfect grammar or syntax. This effective approach allows students to gain fluency in Nepali at a rapid pace. Language instructors accompany students on trips and treks, providing both structured and informal field instruction. Throughout the semester, classes are held 3-5 hours per day, 5-6 days per week, for a total of approximately 200 in-class hours. Class size is small, with a student-teacher ratio of 3:1. 

Independent Study

The Independent Study Project is a chance for students to explore in-depth an aspect of Nepal in which they are particularly interested. The weeks allotted for the project come at the end of the program when students’ language skills are strongest, thereby allowing them to travel and do research independently as well as draw upon the cultural knowledge and information they have acquired throughout the semester. 

Students begin formalizing ideas for their projects during the second month of the program. These proposals are then discussed and refined in consultations and advising sessions with program staff and experts in the student’s field of interest. During the actual project period, students function independently, with program staff and advisers available for assistance when needed. Past student projects have included:

• The Language Speaks: Case Study of Ethnic Relations and Language Dynamics in a Multilingual Village in Nepal
• Modernization is in the Eye of the Beholder: A Case Study of Development in the Village of Bandipur
• “Beings like Gods”: Stories, Beliefs, and Superstitions Concerning Simigaau Ghosts
• Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby: An Exploratory Study on Sex and Sexuality in Nepali Relationships and Marriages
• Women, Work and Food: The Central Aspects of the Daily Life of the Sherpa/Tamang Women of Simigau
• International Labor Migration in Nepal
• Fighting Education: Methods of Overcoming Obstacles in Higher Secondary Schools in Bandipur, Nepal
• Eco-Undertones in Nepali Religious Tradition
• The End of Freak Street: Drug Abuse in Nepal: History, Treatment and Policy

Living with Nepali families helps provide necessary context for issues raised in lectures and readings and is one of the foundations of the experience in Nepal. Accordingly, participation in Nepali family and cultural life is a factor in the grade for the Nepal Studies course. 

Students are in a homestay for most of the semester. While taking coursework at the program house, students stay with a family in the Kathmandu Valley. The chance to become a member of these Nepali families and to develop a personal relationship with the individual family members is a privilege seldom experienced by most trekkers, diplomats, or researchers. Lifestyles are heavily informed by traditional Hindu beliefs. Homes have all that students need but may be more rustic than homes in the U.S. Students often consider family stays to be the most meaningful dimension of the program. During the independent study at the end of the program students will work with the program directors to find accommodations near their ISP location.

On the program students have local study tours visiting important cultural and religious sites, and several away trips to different regions of Nepal. These study tours are led by professionals and allow students to complement classroom learning with direct observation and experience in the field. Local trips have included:

• The medieval royal palaces of Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur
• Pashupatinath, Nepal’s most revered Hindu temple
• The stupa at Bouddha, an important Tibetan Buddhist pilgrimage site
• Changu Narayan, one of the oldest extant religious complexes in the Valley 

Longer away trips are organized for students to experience Nepal’s cultural and religious diversity firsthand. Students trek along ancient trade routes, through terraced fields, and in the shadow of the world’s highest mountains. Trips have included: 

• A visit to national parks in southern Nepal which are home to elephants, one-horned rhino, and Royal Bengal tigers
• A trek to the beautiful village of Simigaun set in the hills at the beginning of the Tsho Rolpa Lake Trek
• The Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepals largest protected area covering residents of different cultural and linguistic groups 
• Lumbini, a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi District
• Bandipur, a charming town in the foothills of Himalayas

How to Apply

Application Steps and Deadlines for Pitzer College Students

Application Steps for Non-Pitzer Students

Before You Go

Passport: Everyone on the program needs a passport. Check the expiration date. If you do not have a passport valid for six months after your planned return from study abroad, then you will need to renew your passport.

Orientation: After students apply and are accepted into the program, they will participate in a program orientation before leaving for Nepal. Orientations are required and designed to ensure students get the most out of the study abroad experience. They provide cultural context, health and safety information, and academic guidelines. At orientation, students will receive details specific to the program including program dates, flight arrangements, immunization documents, safety guidelines, and the handbook.

Visas: Typically, students traveling with a U.S. passport will receive their visa for Nepal upon arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Prices vary for the visa, students will be notified of costs and receive additional details a few weeks before leaving for the program. However, the visa process can change at any time, students can stay up to date by regularly checking the State Department website and Consulate General of Nepal website.