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Liana Chase and Ivan Deschenaux awarded BNAC PhD Dissertation Prize 2020

London
10 April 2020

The Britain Nepal Academic Council (BNAC)’s 20th Anniversary PhD Dissertation Prize (2020) is awarded to Dr Liana Chase and Dr Ivan Deschenaux for their PhD dissertation chapters ‘Care in Translation’ and ‘No Culture of Our Own’ respectively.

In her chapter Liana, from SOAS, University of London, explored how healthcare workers in Nepal translate the technical vocabulary of psychosocial problems into terms that ordinary Nepalis can understand. Similarly, Ivan, who was awarded his PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science, analysed how Dalits in East Nepal talk about and wrestle with the concept of culture.

A panel of judges from the BNAC comprising Prof. David Gellner, Dr Kalyan Bhandari, and Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen, awarding the joint first place to the papers, commented: “Both submissions demonstrated a fine ethnographic sensibility and an ability to use ethnographic material in order to address general issues in a fresh and interesting way.”

The panel awarded the third place and an honourable mention to Ms. Monalisa Adhikari of the University of Edinburgh for her article ‘Breaking the Balance? The Impact of Peacekeeping on Civil-Military Relations’ published, 2020, in International Peacekeeping.

There were altogether 10 high-quality submissions for the award. PhD students and recent graduates (within two years of graduation) from the social sciences or the humanities, registered in South Asian or European universities and conducting research about Nepal or the Nepali cultural world, were eligible to take part in the competition by submitting a chapter or paper from their PhD research.

The prize, worth £250 to each winner, will be awarded at a function during the 18th Nepal Study Days in UCL London.

The BNAC Chair Dr Krishna Adhikari said: “To mark the 20th year of the BNAC’s existence, this year BNAC announced two prizes, instead of the usual one. The dissertation prize was set up in 2017 to encourage and reward excellent research chapter/paper by a PhD student or recent PhD graduate. There are prizes available in America, and prizes exist for writing a Master’s thesis, but, until we set one up, there was no such prize for PhD students in Europe or South Asia researching Nepal.”

The 2020 Prize was coordinated by the BNAC EC member Sapana Basnet Bista of Liverpool John Moores University, UK.