Knowledge production is a collaborative process.
I examine human dimension of climate change from a critical Indigenous perspective with a focus on high Himalaya.
My current research applies community-based approach to exploring the possibilities of collective survival on warming planet. It builds on my previous research on human dimensions of climate change in the Himalayas and longterm ethnographic study of the Sherpa community at home and in the diaspora.
I use ethnographic methods to study everyday concerns of Himalayan people in order to normalize our experiences and represent us as equal partners in decision-making spaces.
Some of the socio-economic and environmental forces that shape our everyday concerns include mountaineering, conservation and development, climate change, migration, and transnationalism. These topics are interrelated and inform us about the everyday concerns of mountain people from the Himalayas.
I believe that our sustainability as a Sherpa people in the wake of climate change depends on keeping our songs and stories about people, places and things alive for the next generation.
In picture: Declan, Maicen and Pasang in front of sacred Gokyo Lake, May 2023.
Official Bio:
Pasang Yangjee Sherpa, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Lifeways in Indigenous Asia, jointly appointed in the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her current research applies community-based approach to exploring the possibilities of collective survival on warming planet. It builds on her longterm ethnographic study of the Sherpa community at home and in the diaspora and her extensive study of human dimensions of climate change in the Himalayas. She previously taught at The New School in New York, Pacific Lutheran University, Penn State University, Washington State University and University of Washington. Her interviews have appeared in Alpinist, Al Jazeera, BBC, Foreign Policy, PRI’s The World, Newsweek, and BYU Radio’s Top of the Mind among others.