Lopita Nath

Dr. Lopita Nath is the Chair of the History Department and the Coordinator of the Asian Studies Program at the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas. She previously taught at The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, University of Virginia’s College at Wise, and Cotton College, Guwahati, India She has taught for over 31 years, in the fields of Asian and World History, Migration Studies, Refugee Issues and Human Rights. Dr. Nath is a Fulbright Scholar and the recipient of the Social Science Research Council Award. At UIW she was awarded the Edward A. Zlotkowski Faculty Award for Service Learning(2020), Minnie Piper Award UIW Nominee (2020-21, 2014-15), Presidential Teaching Award (2019) and the Moody Professor Award (2015). Her research expertise is on Migration in Asia, human displacement, refugees, citizenship, and human rights. Her current research focuses on the Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement in the USA. Since 2010, she visited the Bhutanese Refugee Camps in Nepal several times, and also worked with resettled refugees in Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Texas. Currently, she is working on her book on the Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement in the United States. She has authored several articles in reputed journals on her research on the Bhutanese refugees, including The Nepalis in Assam: Cross Border Movements and Ethnicity (2003) and co-authored “Course Based Study Abroad: How to Create a Truly Transformative Experience”(Routledge,2019). She is the past president of the Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, Coordinator of the European, Middle-Eastern and Asian Studies at the Southwest Historical Association and serves on the Catholic Charities of San Antonio Refugee Advisory Board and the Faculty Advisory Board of Institute of Texan Cultures, SA and is the Vice Chair of the Advisory Board of the Ettling Center for Civic Leadership, UIW. Dr. Nath was part of the cohort of the UIW NEH Trauma grant 2017-19. She is the co-director of the CIELO-Unity in Action, a Refugee Mentoring Program in San Antonio, that helps refugees transition to life in America, through women empowerment, ESL programs, tutoring and other help that refugees need, in collaboration with several community partners. In October 2020, she was one of the Panelists on a World Affairs Council Panel on US-China Relations.

• Ph.D, Gauhati University, Assam, India, 2002. Dissertation Title: “The Socio-Economic History of Assam in the 18th and 19th Centuries: A Study of the Transition”.
• M.A., History, Cotton College, Guwahati, under Gauhati University, Assam India, 1989.
• B.A., History, Cotton College, Guwahati, under Gauhati University, Assam India, 1985.

• 2018- Present: University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, Professor of History and Coordinator of Asian Studies Program
• 2012-2017: University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, Associate Professor of History/ Coordinator of Asian Studies Program
• 2007-2012: University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, Assistant Professor of History
• 2006-2007: University of Virginia's College at Wise, Wise Virginia, Assistant Professor of History
• 2005-2006: College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, Visiting Professor
• 2004-2005: University of the Incarnate Word, Fulbright Scholar in Residence and Visiting Professor
• 2003-2004: University of the Incarnate Word: Visiting Professor (One semester)
• 1989-2004:Cotton College, Guwahati, India, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer
• 1989-2003: Assam Administrative Staff College India , Visiting Lecturer

Publications

Book

Andrade, Lydia, Nath, Lopita and Scott Dittloff. Course Based Study Abroad: How to Create a Truly Transformative Experience. Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group (Published April 3, 2019).

The Nepalis in Assam: Ethnicity and Cross Border Movements in the Northeast, Minnerva Publications,Kolkata,India, 2003.

Articles in Journals and edited Books (selected)

“Eight Emerging Themes Among Picture Books Featuring Characters Affected by War” ( in the book entitled Promoting Educational Success through Culturally Situated Instruction, edited by Wally D. Thompson and Debra Jean Coffey, to be published by Lexington Books, an imprint of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.) 2021.

“Creating intercultural experiences: Case studies of course-based study abroad in Germany, the Caribbean, and India” Lydia M. Andrade, Scott Dittloff , Lopita Nath, & Alejandra Yañez-Vega, in Crossing Borders/ Crossing Boundaries: Narratives of intercultural experiences, 2019 CEDER Yearbook (Consortium for Educational Development, Evaluation and Research). Editors: Lynn Hemmer, Phyllis Robertson, Jana Sanders. Published by CEDER, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (2019)

‘Bhutanese Refugees: A Case Study of Oral History Research”, Sage Research Method Cases, Sage Publications, (January 2019)

“An Old Monarchy, A New Democracy and Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: A Holistic Approach for Sustainable Development”. The Clarion-International Multidisciplinary Journal. 2018. Vol.7 (2).

“One Nation, Two Diasporas: Nepali Migrants and Bhutanese Refugees in the United States”, in Ajay K Chaubey & Asis De (ed.), Mapping South Asian Diaspora: Recent Responses and Ruminations. Rawat Publications, Jaipur, India. 2018

Reading Refugee Stories: Five Common Themes Among Picture Books with Refugee Characters, Texas Journal of Literacy Education, 5(2), 130-14. September 2017. Co-author Stephanie Grote-Garcia.

“Labour Migration and Economic Enterprise: The Nepalis in Assam”, in Sikhamoni Konwar,(ed.) Historical and Socio-Cultural Aspects of North-East India, Vol.Two, New Delhi, Concept Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd. 2016

Conference Presentation and Participation(Selected)

Panelist : “A refugee at heart forever: Memory, Homeland and Identity among the Bhutanese Refugees Resettled in America,” Symposium on DISPLACED: UNHOMELINESS AND COMMUNITY DURING TIMES OF CRISIS, October 16, 2020.

Panelist: A Decade Later: Challenges and Success Stories of Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement in the United States, presented at The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalayas, Social Science Baha. Kathmandu, Nepal. July 28-31, 2020 (Virtual Conference).

Panelist: “Historical Crossings: How to Cross Disciplines for the Work Ahead,” Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society Biennial Convention, January 2020

Panelist: “Nepali Migration to Assam: Colonial Legacies, Post-Colonial Conflicts”, on a panel on “On the Edge of Empire: Rethinking Nepal’s ‘Non-Colonial’ Legacy”, at the Imperial Legacies of 1919 Conference. University of North Texas, Denton, Texas. April 19th 2019.

Cultural Trauma: Relations between Resettlement and High rates of suicide among the Bhutanese refugees in the United States, Trauma & Women's and Gender Studies Conference, UIW, April 12-13, 2019.

Panelist: “Empowerment of At-Risk Women through Access to Social Protection Services: Refugee, Immigrant and Battered Women”. United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 63, Parallel Event), March 15, 2019, United Nations, New York.

“Do Refugees have Rights? Understanding the Global Refugee Crisis and Human Rights”, Panel Organizer, Chair and Discussant, (Undergraduate Student Panel), World History Of Texas Conference, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas, February 23rd 2019.

Panelist: “Challenges of Refugee Resettlement in the U.S”. on a panel on "Peace Day Reflections on the Refugee Crisis", October 31st 2018.

Raising Students’ Voices: Using Literature Featuring Refugee Characters in the Classroom, Co-Author: Stephanie Grote-Garcia, presented at 2018 NCTE Annual Convention, Nov 15-17, 2018 Houston, Texas.
Democracy in Shangri-la: A unique case of Political change in Bhutan, Presented at Southwest Social Science Association Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida. Oct.11-13, 2018.

Bhutanese Refugees in the United States: Dealing with life in their New Home in a Symposium on Refugee Resettlement and Trauma, University of the Incarnate Word. Sept 18, 2018.

An Old Monarchy, A New Democracy and Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: A Holistic Approach for Sustainable Development. The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalayas, Social Science Baha. Kathmandu, Nepal. July 25-27, 2018.

Democratization and Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: A Holistic Approach for Sustainable Development, Presented at the Sixteenth Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities, Honolulu, Hawaii., January 8-12, 2018.

The New Bhutan: Gross National Happiness, the New Democracy and the Old Monarchy, Presented at the 46th Southwest Conference in Asian Studies, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. Nov.17-18th 2017

From the United States to the Camps in Nepal: Challenges and Impact of the Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement, in a panel Nepali-Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement: A Retrospective Look at the First Decade, presented at the Himalayan Studies Conference V, to be held in Boulder, Colorado, USA from September 1-4, 2017

Refugee Resettlement in the Texas Panhandle: Towards a Positive Approach, In a Panel on Population Change in Texas, with Co-Author Sherryllynn Roberts, UTSA, at Southwest Social Science Association Annual Meeting, Austin Texas, April 13-15, 2017.

Reading Refugee Stories: Preparing K-12 Teachers to help students understand Global Issues, in a panel “War and Its Effects”, with Co-Author Stephanie Grote-Garcia, UIW, at Southwest Social Science Association Annual Meeting, Austin Texas, April 13-15, 2017.

Undergraduate Research Activities in the Classroom – Workshopping Roundtable Mentor, at Southwest Social Science Association Annual Meeting, Austin Texas, April 13-15, 2017.

Global refugee crisis and South Asia’s geopolitics: The case of the Bhutanese refugees, Presented at the Himalayan Policy Research Conference, October 20, 2016, in Madison, Wisconsin, at the pre-conference venue of the University of Wisconsin's 45th Annual Conference on South Asia (October 20-23, 2016)

Education, Health and Social Safety Nets, panel Chair, at the Himalayan Policy Research Conference, October 20, 2016, in Madison, Wisconsin, at the pre-conference venue of the University of Wisconsin's 45th Annual Conference on South Asia (October 20-23, 2016)

Living in a Foreign Land: resettlement challenges of the Bhutanese Refugees in the United States. Presented at Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, Texas Christian University in Dallas, Fort Worth, Nov 5-7, 2015

“Reaching Diverse Groups through Interfaith Community Service”, Presentation at the 5th President’s Fifth Annual Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge Fall Gathering , Howard University, Washington D.C. September 10-11, 2015 ( With Monica Cruz, Director ECCL and Maria Bedolla and Irene Tombo (Students)

President, Local Chair and Organizer, 45Th Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Tx, October 14-15th, 2016.

• Reacting to the Past Consortium, USA
• Association for Asian Studies, USA
• Southwest Conference on Asian Studies, USA
• American Historical Association Southwest Social Science Association, USA
• Southwest Historical Association, USA
• North East India History Association.
• Assam Research Society.
• Indian History Congress.

• Indian Classical Dance :Kathak
• Indian Folk and popular dance forms
• Reading
• Movies
• Theater
• Reiki Healing (Reiki Master), Meditation and Yoga

• 2020, Edward A. Zlotkowski Faculty Award for Service Learning
• 2020, Nominated for the Texas Minnie Piper Professor Award, from UIW
• 2019, UIW Presidential Teaching Award
• 2018, Nominated, UIW Presidential Teaching Award.
• 2015, Nominated for UIW Presidential Teaching Award
• 2015, Moody Professor Award, 2014-2015. University of the Incarnate Word
• 2014, Moody Professor Award, 2014-2015. University of the Incarnate Word
• 2014 Walter G. Craddock Paper prize for best paper in European/Asian/Middle Eastern History by the Southwest Historical Association at the annual conference of the Southwest Social Science Association, April 17-19
• 2013, Nominated for the Minnie Piper Professor Award, from UIW
• 2013, Sr. St. Pierre Cinquin Award for Faith (2012 Mission Continues Faculty Awards). University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas
• 2011, Nominated, UIW Presidential Teaching Award
• 2004, Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Grant, (Visiting Professor to the University of the Incarnate Word), Department of Education, USA
• 2003, South Asia Regional Fellowships, Social Science Research Council, New York
• 2000, Research Grant, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata,(Department of Tourism and Culture, Government of India)
• 1993, Research Project Grant, University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India
• 1989, Gold Medal for First Position in M.A.( History ), Gauhati University, Assam, India 1986-89, State Merit Scholarship, Government of Assam, India
• 1981-85, State Merit Scholarship, Government of Assam, India
• 1981, National Merit Scholarship, Government of India

Academic/ Research Awards

• 2020, Racial Equity & Interfaith Cooperation Award, part of IFYC’s We Are Each Other’s Campaign. Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago, Illinois.
• 2020, Faculty Workload Reassignment Award
• 2018-19, Faculty Endowment Research Award, for 2018-19 Research on Bhutan’s New Democracy.
• 2016, Faculty Endowment Research Award, 2016 Study Abroad Research
• 2015-16 Faculty Endowment Research Award, Travel to Nepal and Bhutan
• 2012, Faculty Endowment Research Award, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas.
• 2010, Faculty Endowment Research Award, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas
• 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 International Travel Grant to take students to India in Spring 2011,2012,
• 2014, and 2016 from the International Programs for Course-based study abroad trip.

Funded Grants

• 2017: Interfaith Youth Corps Campus Innovation Grant- Co-author
• 2016-18: NEH Grant on "Trauma: Conflict and Aftermath.": Co-author
• 2011- 2013: NEH Grant on Water and Culture Grant: Co-author

Certifications

• Canvas Training, University of the Incarnate Word, 2021
• Flip Academy, University of the Incarnate Word, 2020
• Reacting to the Past, Winter Workshop, University of Georgia, Athens, 2017, 2020
• QEP Writing Academy and Workshop, University of the Incarnate Word, 2017
• Winter Course on Forced Migration, Mahanirban Institute on Forced Migration, 2013
• Reacting to the Past, Pedagogy Workshop, Schreiner University, 2012

• Refugee Resettlement in San Antonio
• CIELO Unity in Action, Co-director
• Catholic Charities San Antonio, Refugee Advisory Board (Member, 2016-present)
• Catholic Charities San Antonio, Refugee Advisory Board ,Chair (2012-16)
• Catholic Charities San Antonio, (Board (Member 2014-2016)
• Institute of Texan Cultures, San Antonio, Faculty Advisory Board
• SOL center (Board Member)
• Awaaz San Antonio, Advisor

UIW

• Asian American Pacific Heritage Month
• I-House Initiative with the International Students and Scholar Services, Faculty Sponsor
• CHASS Awards Committee, 2019-2020, 2021 Spring
• Ettling Center Civic Leadership ( Advisory Board Member and Chair, Local and Global Outreach)
• Ettling Center for Civic Leadership (Vice Chair of Advisory Board Member)
• Rank and Tenure Committee Faculty Development Fund Committee Senate Member (CHASS Representative)
• Peace Day Committee
• Asian New Year Celebration Committee
• Diwali: Festival of Lights Celebration Committee
• Holi festival of Colors at UIW, celebration Committee
• Interfaith Council, UIW, Co Chair
• Faculty Advisor: Asian Culture Club
• History Club
• Interfaith-Student Organization
• Mentor UGRAD: program for Asian Students at UIW

• 2016, Researcher and Curator, Picture Exhibit entitled: “Is this my Shangri-la? Life in a Bhutanese Refugee Camp”, at the Institute of Texan Cultures. January –March 2016
• 2015, Invited Researcher, for the Exhibit, Sikhs in Texas: Sikhs-Legacy of The Punjab, at the Institute of Texan Cultures. February 19th to Dec. 31st, 2015.
• 2014, Researcher and Curator, Picture Exhibit entitled: “Is this my Shangri-la? Life in a Bhutanese Refugee Camp”, at the Institute of Texan Cultures. February 1st to April 20th.
• 2014, Researcher and Curator, Picture Exhibit entitled: “Is this my Shangri-la? Life in a Bhutanese Refugee Camp”, at the UIW Mabee Library. August 1st to May 2015.

• Refugee Resettlement in the United States: Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement
• Global Refugees, Refugee Studies
• Human displacement
• Citizenship and Identity of Refugees and Displaced people
• Human Rights in Asia
• Migration Studies in Asia
• Nepali Migration in South and Southeast Asia
• Studies in Ethnicity: Related to Northeast India
• History and Politics of India and South Asia
• British Colonialism and Post-colonial studies
• Service Learning and Study Abroad

• World History, Honors World History (Inquiry into the Modern World)
• History of India and South Asia
• Bollywood and the Making of Modern India
• History of Afghanistan
• History of East Asia: China ; Japan ; Korea
• History of Islam, Modern Middle East
• Global Refugees, Refugee Studies
• Global Human Rights; Human Rights in Asia
• History of USA
• British Empire, Colonial and Post-Colonial Studies
• Migration Studies in Asia
• Nepali Migration in South and Southeast Asia
• Studies in Ethnicity: Related to Northeast India