Coping with Covid
Our director, Dr. Anna Stirr, in conversation with Dr. Suresh Tamang about how the Nepal Government and various NGOs have been working through successes and failures to combat COVID-19 in Nepal.
This video is part of the UH Manoa Center for South Asian Studies’ multilingual video series आईना | Mirror, begun by former Director Sai Bhatawadekar. The series’ current theme is Coping With COVID.
Dr. Suresh Tamang is a graduate of UH Manoa’s Social Work program, with a PhD in Social Welfare. He has been active in government-NGO cooperation in the public health sector for many years.
Sai Bhatawadekar (former director, Center for South Asian Studies) interviews Astad Deboo – a renowned and innovative dancer-choreographer from India who combines Kathak, Kathakali, and Contemporary Dance. He has worked with great artists worldwide, including Pina Bausch. He and three of his dancers – Shamsul, Govind, and Pradeep – talk about their new project – Boundaries – dedicated to migrant workers feeling cornered and yet breaking away with hope and determination. The project and interview also reveal their process of choreography during COVID isolation.
The interview and Sai’s editing of it aim to be decolonial and non-elitist, letting voices be heard in their own language and bodies seen in their earnest expression. This video is part of the Center’s initiative “आईना | Mirror : Reflecting South Asia in Hawaii, Asia-Pacific, and Beyond” that she started last year; the current theme is “Coping with COVID”.
You can watch the interview here.
Creative Language Learning in Quarantine!
Special tip of the hat to Aditi Jagdale, whose German video project was mind-blowing! Also, Azeema Faizunnisa, who is happy to lose herself in word quests!