Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Environment and Natural Resources

Mountain ecosystems and communities are undergoing profound changes driven by a complex interplay of environmental, economic, and sociocultural factors, including climate change, natural hazards, land use change, and rapid infrastructure development. These interconnected changes have far-reaching impacts on local livelihoods, the supporting ecosystems, and the overall sustainability of mountain social-ecological systems. While community resilience has been promoted as a collective capacity to navigate change and advance development, empirical studies on its effectiveness within mountain communities remain limited. To bridge this knowledge gap, this dissertation embarks on an ethnographic and citizen science study in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region, employing a mixed-methods approach comprising interviews, interventions, and ethnography. This dissertation presents an exploration of community resilience within the context of complex mountain social-ecological systems. By illuminating the significance of social capital and participatory knowledge engagement, the study unveils pathways towards community resilience. A novel conceptual diagram aids in untangling the essence of community resilience as a collective capacity, while subsequent case studies dissect the interactions among critical capacities such as social capital, knowledge, and learning. The dissertation underscores the necessity for context-specific approaches and capacity dynamics, as well as the ethical and political dimensions inherent in community resilience initiatives. This work not only enriches the understanding of community resilience from conceptualization to practical application but also provides actionable insights for effective development interventions. Moreover, the empirical study, conducted in a mountain community and employing digital mapping techniques, offers a small-scale perspective on how to facilitate effective learning and knowledge sharing. To finish, this dissertation research (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jeremy Brooks (Advisor) Subjects: Environmental Management; Environmental Studies; Geography; Natural Resource Management; Social Research

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Arts and Sciences: Political Science

Women from Nepal have been migrating for domestic work, particularly to the Gulf States, since the 1990s. Domestic work is precarious work. The work is challenging with difficult working conditions and the domestic workers are exploited and experience cruel treatment. In 2017, the Nepal Government imposed a ban prohibiting women from Nepal to migrate to the Gulf states for domestic work. Even in the past, the government has periodically imposed several prohibitions on the migration of women for domestic work, mainly to the Gulf states. Migrant domestic workers face gross labor exploitation as they have no protection against excessive physical work without breaks, experience health issues, and face physical/sexual and mental abuse. The employers also take their passports away. It is because of such incidences that the government has imposed a ban. However, even with bans in place in the past and present, women have migrated illegally or through neighboring countries such as India, which can be further risky. The Nepal government is aware of this, but they have still banned it even though it is not an effective solution. My research examines the challenging experiences of the domestic workers in domestic work abroad, the impact of the ban, what they think about the ban, and explores the motivations behind the Nepal government's bans. To determine this, in-depth interviews of returnee migrant women domestic workers and NGO workers working closely on the issues concerning migrant women in domestic work have been conducted. Furthermore, the Nepal government's policies on foreign employment, reports on foreign employment published by the government, and online news articles containing accounts of migrant domestic workers and civil society members have been studied and analyzed. The interviews revealed the inhumane treatment that the women faced where some were beaten up daily and some kept starving for hours. The interviews and news articles also concurred that even when (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Rina Williams Ph.D. (Committee Member); Anne Runyan Ph.D. (Committee Member); Laura Jenkins Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Plant Pathology

Soilborne diseases and weeds contribute to more than 35% of crop yield loss worldwide. These can be managed successfully using an environmentally benign soil disinfestation method known as anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) and biocontrol agents (BCAs). These studies focused on developing soilborne pest management strategies that integrate ASD with BCAs. Organic amendments including wheat bran, molasses, and cover crops used as ASD carbon sources were evaluated to manage Rhizoctonia root rot (RRR) caused by Rhizoctonia solani in radish, clubroot disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae in mustard greens and several weed species. Forty-one isolates of the fungal BCA Trichoderma collected from diverse climatic zones in Nepal and Ohio were characterized using morphological and molecular techniques and assessed for their biocontrol efficacy in vitro and in planta. The Trichoderma isolates from Nepal were assigned to the Asperellum, Asperelloides and Harzianum clades, while the Ohio isolates were matched to the Hamatum and Ghanense clades based on a maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis. Potential synergy between two Trichoderma BCAs and ASD in the suppression of RRR in radish and clubroot disease in mustard greens was assessed. Rhizoctonia solani populations were significantly reduced by ASD treatment regardless of carbon source, while Trichoderma populations were not affected by ASD treatment with the exception of ASD-mustard greens. The interactions of either Trichoderma isolate and ASD with most carbon sources were additive, while T. harzianum T22 with ASD-molasses and T. asperelloides NT25 with ASD-wheat bran interactions were synergistic in reducing disease severity. Anaerobic soil disinfestation effectively suppressed weed seed germination and viability when wheat bran, molasses and mustard greens biomass were used as carbon sources. We also analyzed the integration of genetic resistance and induced systemic resistance by Trichoderma isolates as a potential (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sally Miller Dr. (Advisor); Pierce Paul Dr. (Committee Member); Jonathan Jacobs Dr. (Committee Member); Steve Culman Dr. (Committee Member); John Cardina Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Plant Pathology

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2021, Leadership and Change

Adolescent girls in developing countries, especially those from impoverished backgrounds, face many challenges, such as cultural preference for sons, child marriage, and gender-based violence and harassment, which limit their access, opportunities, and leadership skills. The purpose of this study was to create a virtual empowerment and leadership program for young women based on extant literature, as well as best practices empowerment programs from South East Asia and empirical data. The main goal of the study using Virtual Participatory Action Research (V-PAR) was to organically create a leadership development program where the participants are the developers of the program. The goal of this approach is not only to create a sense of ownership among the participants, but also to empower them with culturally compatible knowledge and skill-sets. The workshop's objective was designed and conducted by, and for, female college students to empower themselves to take on leadership roles in their personal and professional lives. What separated this research from similar leadership workshops and women's empowerment programs was using the emergent methodology V-PAR, which became essential due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Limited research has been conducted on marginalized communities virtually by collaboration with local facilitators from the same culture. Furthermore, using V-PAR methodology supported the creation of a virtual environment for young women who live in underprivileged areas in Nepal and who lack accessibility and facilities needed to gain knowledge and competencies. The workshop generated a dynamic, iterative, and interactive setting that fostered continuous learning, support, feedback, and mentoring between the participants, and served as an ongoing incubator for development of leadership skills. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/.

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Member); Jeffrey Kottler PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Leadership; Gender Studies; Womens Studies

Master of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, 2020, English

Away from Home is a collection of ten short stories, all wholly set in Nepal except the title story that straddles the borders between Nepal and India. Some of these stories originated from my personal experiences, while others are purely works of imagination. My stories deal with relationship between couples, siblings, friends, lovers, and so on. My protagonists range from teenage to sixty-seven years old, and usually they are male suffering lack of love due to fate, circumstances, or their own flaws.

Committee: Lee Martin Prof. (Advisor) Subjects: Fine Arts; Literature

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2018, International and Comparative Politics

Democracy is facing crisis as its values including political rights and civil liberties are declining around the world. If democracy is to prevail, the reasons for the decline need to be addressed. To this end, the research question is: how nationalism and regional influences affect the political transitions of Bhutan and Nepal. The research question is answered by analyzing leadership stability, ethnicity and the caste system, as well as the roles of regional giants India and China in Bhutan's and Nepal's political transitions. The findings show that the contested conceptions of nationalism in Nepal and strong internal nationalism in Bhutan explain much of the varying nature of the transitions. In addition, regional influence, especially the significant role exerted by India in both cases, help explain the differences in the political transitions of Bhutan and Nepal.

Committee: Laura Luehrmann Ph.D. (Advisor); Pramod Kantha Ph.D. (Committee Member); Judson Murray Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Political Science

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2018, College of Education and Human Services

Internationalization of higher education is a major characteristic of China's higher education policy. Accordingly, the Chinese government is fervently encouraging the spread of Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes, student exchange programs, recruitment of international students, and international collaborations. South Asia is no exception to China's higher education outreach. Against this background, this qualitative study examined experiences of South Asian students with regard to China's higher education program(s) in relation to the explicit and implicit aims of China's soft power policy. Soft power refers to the power of attraction and co-optation, which is based on a nation's intangible resources such as "culture, ideology and institutions" (Nye, 1990). A case study approach was employed by using Nepal as the site for an in-depth investigation into academic, socio-cultural and political experiences of Nepalese students in relation to China's higher education policy and programs. Soft power constitutes the theoretical framework. Data sources included interviews with 20 Nepalese students (including alumni) and six experts, You Tube videos, images, news stories, books, journal articles, documents, and reports. Findings indicate that whereas the Chinese political system--specifically governance--and foreign policy as well as certain traits of the Chinese society drew admiration from the Nepalese students, the Chinese education program was found deficient in brand reputation and Chinese cultural penetration remains challenging, while such issues as racism and color discrimination stood out as social ills in the Chinese society. The study bridges a critical gap in the existing literature that is largely exclusive of the South Asian region where China is rapidly strengthening its strategic foothold, as well as making a significant contribution to the literature on linkages between soft power and education by employing the educational soft (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Galletta Dr. (Committee Chair); Joanne Goodell Dr. (Committee Member); Marius Boboc Dr. (Committee Member); Jonathan Ring Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Education; Education Policy; Educational Evaluation; International Relations; South Asian Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Public Policy and Management

Low-income households in developing countries borrow extensively from formal and informal borrowing channels for various consumption and production needs. Formal financial institutions include commercial banks, rural development banks, non-governmental organizations, microfinance institutions, and other financial institutions. Informal borrowing channels include friends and family, private moneylenders, landlords, and informal cooperatives and associations. The overall objective of this dissertation is to explore the connection between borrowing and subsequent household well-being. Broadly, well-being describes the general state of household's comfort and happiness, and can be described along material (e.g. financial well-being) and non-material dimensions (e.g. physical and psychological well-being). As part of the broader research question, I examine three specific research questions, in the context of Nepal. In the first essay, I examine whether borrowing – both formal and informal – positively impacts subsequent economic household well-being. Using panel data from the Nepal Living Standards Survey from 2003-2004 and 2010-2011, I estimate regressions using fixed effects ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares to account for selection into borrowing channels. The findings suggest that for the most part, the relationship between borrowing channels and investment and consumption outcomes is mediated through the borrowing purpose. In the second essay, I explore the financial decision making process related to borrowing decisions, and investigate how formal, semi-formal and informal borrowing is connected to the well-being of low-income households. The chapter focuses on the case of Nepal, which experienced a large-scale earthquake in April 2015. For this chapter, the primary data come from semi-structured interviews with 33 borrowers from two semi-rural towns in Nepal – one was severely affected by the earthquake and another was unaffected by the ea (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Stephanie Moulton (Advisor); Anand Desai (Committee Member); Joyce Chen (Committee Member) Subjects: Public Policy

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2017, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

In this dissertation, I present three essays in which I explore how disparity in access to assets influences intra-household decisions and how risk and financial constraints influence differential gender decisions in agricultural investments, with an aim to formulate evidence-based policy solutions. In essay 1, I empirically examine the role of women's land ownership, either alone or jointly, as a means of improving their intra-household bargaining power in the areas of own healthcare, major household purchases, and visiting family or relatives. Using the 2001 and 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys, I find two important results. First, accounting for the endogeneity of land ownership with inverse probability weighting and instrumental variable methods makes its impact on empowerment higher. Previous research in this area had largely ignored the potential endogeneity of land ownership. Second, the impact is generally stronger in 2011 than in 2001. As evidenced in a number of empirical studies, the increase in women's bargaining power can in turn translate into a redirection of resources towards women's preferences, including higher investment in human capital of the household such as education, health, and nutrition. Therefore, this study indicates that in places where agriculture is the main source of economy for women, policies enhancing land rights equity have the potential to increase women's empowerment and associated beneficial welfare effects. In Essay 2, I investigate whether coupling agricultural loans with micro-level and meso-level drought index insurance can stimulate the demand and supply of credit and increase technology adoption. To this end, in partnership with 14 rural banks and the Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool, we implemented a randomized control trial in northern Ghana that targeted maize farmers organized in credit groups. The empirical analysis indicates that on the demand side, coupling loans with micro-insurance increases the like (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Abdoul Sam (Advisor); Mario Miranda (Advisor) Subjects: Agricultural Economics; Economics

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2015, Geography

Uneven development and urban bias has re-enforced rural to urban migration in Nepal. Such mobility – mostly conceived as economic, but also gendered, political and social - influences migrant livelihoods. I track the everyday geographic, social, and political challenges faced by brick factory migrant workers who are continuously pushed through economic and extra-economic means towards the periphery of urban spaces. I examine how seasonal migration affects migrants' own understandings of development. I also discuss the processes through which brick factory migrant workers negotiate their rights in the migration process. I contend that migrant workers are confined to marginalized spaces of the city and are deprived of means to enhance their capabilities and livelihoods; they negotiate their rights directly with a middle-man, therefore, the owners have little to no liability for migrants' safety; and, migrant mobilities trace a vector from the rural periphery to the urban periphery (margins of the city).

Committee: Stanley Toops Dr. (Advisor); Ian Yeboah Dr. (Committee Member); Janardan Subedi Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Asian Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Geography

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2014, Environmental Science

The Karnali is a remote, mountainous region in the northwest of Nepal, composed of five districts and covering 21,351 square kilometers. Despite its mineral and hydro-electric potential, the region has lagged behind the rest of the country in development, and struggles with high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity. As a result the Karnali has been a focus of many NGO projects and has received food aid from the World Food Program and Nepal Food Corporation for several decades. The efficacy of food aid has been controversial, with claims circulating that it has changed diets, decreased local production, and lowered the self-sufficiency of the region. This study examined the impacts of food aid on agricultural practices in the district of Jumla. Agricultural and livelihood data, including income, land holding, yield, crops grown, agricultural income, fallow land, irrigation, and fertilizer application, were collected through interviews in four villages, and analysis of variance showed significant differences between the villages in food aid they received, road access, income, yield, soil bulk density and land holding. Food aid was correlated with agricultural income and several cash crops, indicating that food aid may encourage cash cropping among subsistence farmers, but was not correlated with yield, production sufficiency, or fallow land. Interviewees reported changes in agricultural practices, diets, incomes, and food aid in recent years. They described how opportunities provided by food aid and the road access have improved their livelihoods. The data indicates that food aid encourages cash cropping and contributes to dietary changes, but only as a part of the larger changes being brought about by ongoing development.

Committee: Douglas Doohan (Advisor); Matthijs Moritz (Committee Member); Casey Hoy (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2013, Botany

This study explored "global localism" as a research approach that promotes collaborative learning about local places and local peoples' perspectives on livelihood resources before proposing global conservation agendas. Scientific and local knowledge about landscapes, forest community types, and key plant species were integrated as an important contribution toward biodiversity conservation at the Manaslu Conservation Area (MCA) of Nepal. Landscape level analyses used participatory maps (n=14) and a satellite derived land-cover map. The final map integrated local knowledge of landscape diversity patterns with the empirical classification of land cover types that enhanced understanding of the MCA first as a "place" with symbolical and cultural meaning and use. At the community level, woody plant diversity patterns and their use were examined using ecological plot sample and ethnobotanical free-listing exercises, interviews, and transect walk analyses. The study confirmed 155 woody species (54 plant families). A total of 149 plants (96%) had 404 uses. Number of species used and number of uses were highest for fuelwood (107 uses, 104 species) and technology (78, 41) use-categories. Seven forest types along the altitudinal gradient between lowland pines to a temperate-deciduous mixed forest were identified. Measures of woody plant species richness and ethnobotanical extractive resources highlight the importance of temperate mixed forests located between 2200 m-2700 m as an important zone for biodiversity conservation. At the population level, local perspectives on the distribution and ecological status of culturally-significant plants were examined. Individual and focus group participants were asked to list woody plant species most preferred for different uses, rank the five most preferred plants, and to name one plant that is considered most important in their lives. In their response, the majority said that "many plants are important and not only one could be mentioned" (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kimberly Medley Dr. (Committee Chair); Hardy Eshbaugh Dr. (Committee Member); Michael Vincent Dr. (Committee Member); Nicholos Money Dr. (Committee Member); Mary Henry Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Botany; Conservation; Ethnic Studies; Forestry; Geography

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2012, International and Comparative Politics

Wartime sexual violence is often assumed to be inevitable during conflict yet empirical evidence indicates that sexual violence varies in type and frequency within and across conflicts as well as among armed groups. A solid understanding of what variable(s) and causal pathway(s) permit the variation of systematic sexual violence in intrastate conflict situations by specific groups has yet to be developed. What factors explain the variation of sexual violence by certain armed opposition groups during conflict situations? This comparative study employs process-tracing and the congruence method to consider the utility of hypotheses drawn from the work of Elisabeth J. Wood and Kathryn Farr using data from the Sri Lankan (1983-2009), Sierra Leonean (1991-2002), and Nepalese (1996-2005) civil wars. It finds that insurgent leadership prohibition of sexual violence against civilians and equitable intragroup gender dynamics are correlated with a lower frequency of sexual violence against civilian populations by insurgencies during civil wars. The author theorizes that when leadership prohibits sexual violence, enforces strong internal group discipline, and frames women‘s (equitable) participation as integral for achieving the broader ideological and strategic goals of the insurgency (i.e., nationalist, leftist, etc.), sexual violence against women and girls is less frequent during civil wars by armed opposition groups vis-a-vis government armed forces.

Committee: December Green PhD (Committee Chair); Donna Schalgheck PhD (Committee Member); Pramod Kantha PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Studies; Gender Studies; Political Science; South Asian Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics

This dissertation examines the impact of financial incentives on students' academic achievement and households' response to these incentives. Economic theory suggests that financial incentives can improve students' academic performance by acting as a price subsidy to effort. Furthermore, short-term rewards can mitigate the likely underinvestment in schooling and cognitive abilities if students and parents have low perceived returns to education or high discount rates for future returns. On the other hand, incentives may lead to a worse performance due to a loss in students' intrinsic motivation, that is, the innate desire to learn. I conducted a randomized field experiment among students in public schools in Lalitpur district in Nepal. From a pool of 33 schools, 11 were randomly chosen to be in the treatment group while the remaining 22 constituted the control group. Grade eight students in the treatment schools were offered cash incentives that increased monotonically with their scores (e.g., piece-rate incentives) in each of the two semester exams and the end-of-the-year district level exam. To encourage students to pass, those who passed all subjects received twice the reward per score compared to those who failed one or more subjects. Despite several experimental and institutional factors making it less likely of finding a positive treatment effect, I find that the incentives increased the average aggregate scores by approximately 0.14 standard deviations. There is no noticeable difference in gains between males and females and incentives had a relatively higher impact on students from higher socioeconomic strata and lower academic performance quartiles. This study contributes to the growing literature on the short-term impact of academic incentives by recording households' response to the incentives. I show that the increase in aggregate scores is likely due to the increased availability of help with schoolwork at home, either from a hired tutor or a household (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian Roe Ph.D. (Advisor); Claudio Gonzalez-Vega Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joyce Chen Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Agricultural Economics; Economics

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1977, History of Art

Committee: John Huntington (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2007, Mass Communication - Telecommunications (Communication)

This study is about Community Radio Madanpokhara (CRM) in Palpa district in Western Nepal. Initiated and managed by the local residents, CRM has been on the air on frequency modulation (FM) band serving 800,000 potential listeners in the region since 2000. Triangulating in-depth interviews, observations and an audience survey as methods, this research explores the nature and extent of the local residents' participation in the communication process. The station, operating with a wide participation from its community members, has not only been successful in providing them with an access to much needed information and entertainment but has also, in fact, proved to be an important avenue for the local population to express their opinions and views as well as exchange feelings. An audience survey, conducted in January 2004, revealed that 80.8 percentage of the local respondents listen to their community radio station for information and entertainment. Community radio in the region not only took away listeners from the state owned radio station, it also added new listeners. Thus, operation of a community radio station is not about sharing power, but it is also about creating new power. CRM has increased access to information for a larger section of rural population previously not served or underserved by the state media or the capital based-elite media. If knowledge is power and democracy is more about decentralization of power, then community radio stations in Nepal are truly championing this cause by creating many centers of power in the nation by empowering those left behind in the process and by securing their active involvement. They are encouraging the dispossessed and the marginalized in breaking the ages-old culture of silence, and CRM is leading the way in this endeavor.

Committee: Drew McDaniel (Advisor) Subjects: Mass Communications

Master of Gerontological Studies, Miami University, 2010, Gerontology

Understanding issues related to long-term care (LTC) is more prominent in western countries than in developing countries. Many developing countries including Nepal are passing through a process of modernization which is replacing traditional social structures and value systems. For example in Nepal, even though long-term care is sometimes provided by a very limited number of government funded old age homes and non-profit organizations, the family remains the sole care-taker for most elderly. Research has demonstrated that the modern ideology of individualism along with the growing number of nuclear families is placing vulnerable populations such as the elderly in a difficult predicament. It is thus safe to argue that if decision-makers of Nepal lack basic knowledge of needs related to aging, disability, and LTC, this will impact all policies concerning these issues. This paper, therefore, explores the perception and knowledge pertaining to aging, disability and LTC among key decision-makers (bureaucrats and politicians) of Nepal. This exploratory study was conducted in Kathmandu and involved face-to-face in-depth interviews with 18 decision makers. The findings reveal that decision-makers have limited knowledge about aging, disability in aging and LTC needs. This paper maintains that the formulation and implementation of any new policies regarding aging and LTC needs could be problematic due to the unstable Nepali political climate.

Committee: Robert Applebaum PhD (Committee Chair); Suzanne Kunkel PhD (Committee Member); James Brown PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Gerontology

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2008, Environmental Sciences

This practicum is about the environmental situation in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. In particular, it describes the deteriorating environmental conditions caused by air pollution, solid waste, and inadequate water supply. It also describes the impact of these deteriorating environmental conditions on the health of the local residents of the valley. In addition to an assessment of the environmental problems and its affects, this report attempts to analyze the issue of environmental sustainability in the Kathmandu valley regarding the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals of 2015. As such, this report is slated to be a reference for the people interested to know the environmental situation of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal.

Committee: Dr. Adolph Greenberg (Advisor); Dr. Sandra Hazleton (Committee Member); Dr. Mark Walsh (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Science

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2006, Religion

This thesis explores the relationship between non-Indian Buddhists and the Indian Buddhist site Bodhgaya. Chapter one examines the account of the 7th century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, and argues that Bodhgaya functioned as a living relic, providing direct access to the Buddha's presence. In the second chapter, the effects of the decline of Buddhism in India are examined, leading to the conclusion that even before the fall of the Pala Dynasty, Bodhgaya had become a prominent element in the imagination of Buddhists who now relied more often on images and souvenir models of the site's temple rather than making pilgrimages to it. In the final chapter, the phenomenon of the construction of replicas of Bodhgaya's temple outside of India is offered as evidence that foreign Buddhists had both incorporated the presence of the Buddha into their history and inscribed the Indian sacred landscape onto their native lands.

Committee: Peter Williams (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2003, Environmental Sciences

This study examines the different kinds of management approaches practiced by local people in far-western Nepal for the management and conservation of two kinds of forests, sacred groves and community forests. It reveals the role of traditional religious beliefs, property rights, and the central government, as well as the importance of traditional ecological knowledge and local participation in management and conservation of the natural resources. In Nepal, the ties of local people with the forest are strong and inseparable. Forest management is an important part of the local livelihood strategies. Local forest management is based on either religious and cultural or utilitarian components of the local community. Management of the sacred grove is integrated with the religious and cultural aspects, whereas the management of the community forest is associated with the utility aspects. Overall, the management strategies applied depend on the needs of the local people.

Committee: Adolph Greenberg (Advisor) Subjects: