Nimu Sherpa, a faculty member of Mirik College, has earned appreciation for presenting a research paper at Wolfson College, in the United Kingdom at the International Seminar of Young Tibetologists (ISYT).
The seminar was held from September 2 to 6.
Wolfson College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Located in north Oxford, the educational institution is an all-graduate college with around 60 governing body fellows in addition to both research and junior fellows.
In her presentation, Sherpa underscored the issue of the identity of the Tibetan community residing in Darjeeling and the vital role of the Tibetan refugee self-help centre.
The title of her paper was “Understanding Resilience — a Study on Tibetan Refugees Around Darjeeling Hills".
“At the seminar, I tried to highlight that Darjeeling also has some important chunks of Tibetan history. I have also elaborated on some other aspects of the Tibetan diaspora in India, in places like Dharamshala (a town in Himachal Pradesh) and some other parts of the country,” Sherpa said on Wednesday.
In 2020, she joined as an English teacher at the college in Mirik, a tiny hill town located around 50km from here.
In October 2023, she applied to the ISYT and received its acceptance letter in January this year.
“I also tried to highlight the Tibetan Self-Help Refugee Centre in Darjeeling, which is a main hub for the restoration of Tibetan art, architecture and culture in exile,” she added.
Nima Lama, the teacher-in-charge of Mirik College, appreciated Sherpa's effort.
“We appreciate her effort, as besides teaching, she also took up the responsibility to highlight the Tibetan history of Darjeeling hills in a global forum. She is an inspiration,” said Lama.