UA Welcomes Visiting Scholar from Nepal

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A visiting scholar from Nepal is sharing her perspective of the world with students at The University of Alabama this fall.

Dr. Sangita Rayamajhi of Nepal, visiting professor, is teaching courses in the UA Honors College and in the department of women’s studies. Her home country, Nepal, is a small country near China and India, known for its capital, Kathmandu, and as home to Mount Everest in the Himalaya Mountains.

At UA, she is teaching courses on Cross Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature.

In her classes, Rayamajhi says she uses cross-cultural themes to promote a better understanding of the world. “I try to bring culture from around the world into the classroom as much as possible in every class.”

Rayamajhi carried out her post-doctoral research at Pomona College of the Claremont Colleges in Los Angeles and she is currently a faculty member at Tribhuvan University in Nepal.

Rayamajhi came to UA, she says, after meeting Dr. Fran Oneal, director of UA International Honors, in Pakistan during a scholastic seminar. Oneal invited her to Tuscaloosa to teach in the honors program and she accepted.

One difference she has already experience at UA is a downsizing of her class roll – noting that many of her classes in Nepal contain up to 200 students in each class and 800 in each course.

Both of the classes Rayamajhi is teaching at UA this fall are relatively small in size as she believes interaction and discussion play a large role in the learning process. Both of the classes have fewer than 20 students and Rayamajhi believes the intimate setting helps students develop in the subject matter.

Rayamajhi, whose son attends school in California, says she is enjoying her time at UA. Her husband will be joining her in Tuscaloosa in November and she plans to take him to what she describes as “a festival” on the Quad on Saturdays and then to a Crimson Tide football game.