Community Leaders from Eight Countries Graduate in Kathmandu, Nepal

Franklin, West Virginia.  On October 7, 2009, students from eight countries graduated with a Master’s Degree in Applied Community Change and Conservation at the Gokarna King’s Forest in Nepal. In this 700-acre forest reserve in the Kathmandu Valley, students were awarded a master’s degree for their leadership in conservation and social development among the world’s most underserved communities.

Honorary guests and dignitaries included the former Finance Minister and Foreign Minister, Dr. Bekh Bahadur Thapa, member of the former royal family, Bishou Bikram Shah, Rev Dr. A. Antonysamy S.J., Principal of St. Xavier’s College, and Mr. Karna Shakya, conservationist and founder of the famous Kathmandu Guest House.

Graduating students came from Bhutan, Bolivia, China, Egypt, Peru, Mozambique, Uganda, and the United States. Every student serves communities. Their professional backgrounds range from economists and medical doctors to government agents and community development specialists.

President, Daniel Taylor, remarked in his opening address: “This graduate program brings students from around the world to learn the best practices of the world—for how to improve the whole of their communities, improving their economics, health, literacy, status of women, and ability to work with government and agency support. In their learning, these students have seen best practices in India, the USA, Peru, and Nepal—and they have applied this in their home communities. It has been my great pleasure to work with them over the last two years.”

Graduation ceremonies were part of the Term IV residential in Nepal, which involved a course on the human ecology of the Himalaya with visits to Shivapuri, Sagarmatha, and Chitwan National Parks. Students also learned from the community-based program of Share and Care and ANSAB (Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources).

This was the third graduating class of the Future Generations Graduate School, which had previously graduated Class One at the base of Mt. Everest in Tibet, China in 2005 and Class Two at the Royal Palace in Bhutan in 2007.

This master’s degree program represents a new type of global higher education, an integrated approach that emphasizes applied learning within communities and the world as its campus. The two-year program includes: 1) four one-month site residentials in India, the United States, Peru, and Nepal plus China, 2) a practicum applied in each student's home community, and 3) interactive online learning.  

Students learn practical skills to be more effective change agents. Dean, Thomas Acker, says “this program is distinctive because it emphasizes community-based learning. It allows students to be based in their own communities for 20 months of the 24-month program, so they do not have to relocate or quit their jobs.”

It also gives them an opportunity to learn first-hand from outstanding examples of community change through a one-month field residential every term, beginning at Gandhi’s study center in India and ending with a study of integrated economic development and conservation in Nepal.

Courses in health, sustainable development, management and governance, conflict transformation, and nature conservation build practical skills and knowledge. Students apply this breadth of knowledge to a specific area of interest through an applied research project that serves their community.

To participate in this endeavor, community leaders are invited to enroll in the next Master’s Degree class, beginning January 2010.