Tom Robertson
Articles by Tom Robertson
Bigotry of low expectations
Negatively stereotyping Dalit and disadvantaged students perpetuates caste discrimination in Nepal
Teaching Nepali teachers to teach better
Why Nepal’s schools perform poorly year after year
Centennial of hunting diplomacy in Nepal
Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher Rana (left) with King George V (right) during a 1911 hunting expedition in the Tarai. Ten years later, he hosted…
Kathmandu's ‘flash floods’ are 4 decades in the making
Aerial photograph of Kathmandu Valley, looking west over the floodplain in 1967. Photo: EARL WEBB/DOUG HALL PEACE CORPS COLLECTIONS Kathmandu…
Why are Sherpas always happy?
International mountain guide Lhakpa Rangdu Sherpa of Happy Feet Mountaineers agency. Photo: HAPPY FEET MOUNTAINEERSFor decades, foreigners have…
5 Myths about the Tharu
One misconception about the Tharu people is that they never got malaria. In fact they did, but less than hill settlers. A US-led insecticide…
Nepal’s class divide
Changing Stories Nepal Fellow Sangeeta Basnet teaching at Amar Secondary School in Urhari of Dang.When I taught in a Nepali government school,…
America, Nepal and the Royal Coup
Charge d' Affaires L. Douglas welcomes BP Koirala to the US Embassy inaguration in 1959.On 15 December 1960 (पुस १) exactly 60 years ago, King…
The dangers of the dengue virus
Haphazard urbanisation in Nepal has created ideal conditions for the mosquito that carries the disease
Viruses past, present and future
Nepal’s history shows that nature matters in dealing with epidemics but, social differences do, too
How Nepal eradicated the smallpox virus
The fourth in a series about what it took for the scourge of smallpox to be finally eradicated from Nepal in 1975.
Smallpox, politics and power in Kathmandu
The third in a series about how epidemics in the past determined the course of Nepal’s history
The smallpox virus in British India
Second instalment in a series tracking the chronic epidemic as it ravaged the subcontinent
Big story of small pox in Nepal
Recurring epidemics shaped the course of history in the Himalaya in unexpected and important ways