Rupak Shrestha
Ph.D. - 2022 • Development Geography • Political Geography • Nepal • Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Fluri
Human Geography

Advisor: Jennifer Fluri     

Dissertation Title: The Border Came Between Us: Securing Development, Surveillance and Securitization, and Refugee Memory and Placemaking in Nepal

Introduction 

I am a Human Geographer interested in questions of sovereignty, territory, power/violence, nationalism, (im)mobilites, and placemaking. My dissertation research examines how Chinese extra-territorial sovereignty viz-a-viz development and military aid in Nepal produces new modes of Tibetan refugee subjectivities. Despite attempts by Nepal and China to restrict Tibetan engagement in political life, I investigate how Tibetans make do through everyday mobilities, circumambulation, place making, and memory.

For 2021/22, I am a Pre-Doctoral fellow at Eckerd College in the Political Science department and the International Relations & Global Affairs program. I commit to diversity, equity, and inclusion in pedagogical practices at Eckerd by teaching three courses thematically based on borders, belonging, and citizenship at global and local scales. At CU Boulder, I have taught courses Human Geographies, Mountain Geography, and World Regional Geography.

I graduated with a PhD in Geography in August 2022. I am currently applying to tenure-track and postdoctoral positions in Human Geography, International/Global Studies, Political Science, and Asian Studies.

Highlights

Grants/Awards:

Academic Service:

  • Executive Committee Member, Association of Nepal and Himalayan Studies, Jan 2018 - Present
  • AAG Political Geography Specialty Group Student Board Member, May 2020 - April 2021
  • Graduate Coordinator, Tibet Himalaya Initiative, CU, Aug 2016 - Sept 2017; Jan 2019 - Dec 2020
  • Editorial Advisory Board Member, International Journal of Bhutan and Himalaya Research, 2019-Present