27

Call for Papers: BNAC Nepal Study Day Panel Celebrating the work of Professor Michael J. Hutt

BNAC Nepal Study Day Panel Celebrating the work of Professor Michael J. Hutt

Britain Nepal Academic Council Nepal Study Days, University of Huddersfield (24-25 April 2023)

Michael J Hutt, Professor of Nepali and Himalayan Studies, at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), whose teaching and research career in the field of Nepal and Himalayan Studies spans over 30 years, took early retirement in late 2021. To mark his retirement and to celebrate his critical role in advancing ‘Nepal and Himalayan Studies’ we invite contributions engaging with his wide-ranging scholarship.

Hutt is both an esteemed translator and renowned scholar of South Asian languages and cultures who describes Nepali literature as his ‘home ground’. From the popular Teach Yourself Nepali to his more recent collaborations with Dalit writers, Hutt has consistently worked to make Nepali language and writing accessible to wider audiences.

Yet his contribution to regional studies extends well beyond the literary sphere. Hutt was one of the first scholars to publish on the Bhutanese refugee crisis, establishing himself as an authority on the sociopolitical origins and impacts of the issue. He published extensively on Nepali politics during and following the Maoist conflict and has also engaged with the Nepali diaspora in India, Nepal Earthquake, the Nepali media, and Nepali art and architecture.

Beyond his immeasurable contribution to regional studies, Hutt has worked in collaboration with other scholars and trained graduate students working across a range of disciplines and thematic areas. His students have used a rich, contextualised engagement with South Asian languages and cultures to advance knowledge in law, public health, social anthropology, political science, and beyond. Accordingly, we welcome papers from a range of disciplines provided they draw on work engaging with Nepali or other South Asian language sources.

Papers presented at this panel (and another symposium celebrating Michael Hutt’s work at the Annual Kathmandu Conference of Nepal and the Himalaya in Kathmandu in July 2023), will be selected to produce an open-access edited volume through Social Science Baha that builds on the framework of a course that Michael Hutt designed and taught at SOAS: Culture and Conflict in the Himalayas.

Interested participants are invited to submit an abstract not exceeding 500 words (along with five keywords) outlining how their contribution speaks to, draws on, or engages with Michael Hutt’s work. The submissions can be in either English or Nepali and should be addressed to bnacstudyday@gmail.com with ‘Hutt panel’ in the subject. Deadline: Monday, 13 March 2023.

This panel is to be organised during Britain Nepal Academic Council’s Nepal Study Days, 24-25 April 2023. The panel format will be a hybrid one, allowing contributors who cannot make it to Huddersfield to join online as well (please note that to enable participation of as many people as possible, the conveners are also hosting a pre-conference symposium celebrating Hut’s work on 25 July 2023 at the Annual Kathmandu Conference of Nepal and the Himalaya in Kathmandu)

We seek to bring together Michael Hutt’s friends, peers, co-authors, collaborators, students, and mentees for a day of insightful talks and reflections.

Conveners

Liana Chase (Durham University), Jeevan Sharma (University of Edinburgh), Stefanie Lotter (SOAS, University of London), and Mark Turin (University of British Columbia)