Surrounded by stately buildings, freshly mowed lawns and well maintained walkways, it is hard to imagine replacing these marks of refinement with stray dogs, overflowing sewers and ubiquitous putrid smells — things that commonly adorn a snapshot of life in Nepal.

In addition to the poor living conditions, Nepal is struggling to recover from the 10-year civil war that ended in 2006. The United States believes the conditions are not stable enough to lift the travel warning on Nepal or remove the Maoists, the major ruling party in the republic, from the terror black list. With lingering concerns about safety, fewer students have participated in the Cornell-Nepal Study Program (CNSP), the only program that Cornell Abroad exclusively administers.

The CNSP is a pioneering initiative that Cornell and Tribhuvan National University of Nepal started in 1993. CNSP prides itself on being the first and only study abroad program in Nepal to pair American university students with Nepalese peers to live and study in residential program houses.

While CNSP definitely heightened its alertness to security issues during the period of insurgency, CNSP has always had comprehensive measures to ensure students’ safety on site ever since its inception.

The directors of CNSP and those of other programs in Nepal meet informally once every month to discuss safety issues, ranging from student bungee jumping to venturing into remote regions. The staff also maintains regular communication with the army and police in Nepal who inform them about strikes and demonstrations. They can then relay the information to the students. Strict rules, such as curfews and travel restrictions, are also administered to keep students safe.

Every year, the International Travel and Response Team for Cornell Abroad runs risk assessments for programs in countries under travel warning. The team gave its approval for CNSP to continue running. CNSP also regularly consults the Fulbright Program, a federally funded exchange program under the Department of Education.

Even though the State Department has not lifted the travel warning, and the Maoists are still dubbed terrorists in the country — not to mention that the term civil war brings unwelcoming images and associations to mind — political violence has almost never been directed to foreigners or American students in Nepal, according to Richard Gaulton, director of Cornell Abroad.

Students have found the Nepalese very welcoming. “I was not concerned about my safety. I heard from enough people that Nepal was quite safe, despite the warnings from the U.S. State Department,” said Paul Josephson ’10, participant of CNSP in 2008-9. “I found out after spending close to a year in Nepal that safety concerns are minimal, especially in comparison to the U.S. I never experienced or even heard of American-directed crime. It seems like most people really like Westerners. So much of Nepal’s economy is supported by tourism, so there would never be any attempt to threaten foreigners.”

Other than possible dangers from strikes and demonstrations, CNSP also makes preparations for natural disasters. For instance, the directors check the residential houses for earthquake safety and make sure that there will be backup water services in times of an earthquake.

“Cornell Abroad did quite a good job at preparing me to deal with potential safety concerns in Nepal. Issues about personal safety included health risks, travel safety, political security, etc.,” Josephson said. “Safety is a huge priority of Cornell Abroad and I possible safety issues before I left for Nepal. They are also great at communicating with students’ parents to inform them of the latest safety concerns and ease some of the fears that parents often have by ensuring [the safety of their children].”

Other universities, such as University of Wisconsin and School for International Training, previously hosted study abroad programs in Nepal as well. During the 10-year civil war in Nepal, only CNSP survived. But the program’s ability to stay on its feet depends on student participation.

According to Gaulton, before the travel warning was issued, there were as many as 30 students participating in the program. “We [felt] bad then because we had to turn people away,” Gaulton said.

“The program has always been small because we attract a self-selected group of students. Every year, we send about 15 students to Nepal,” said Prof. Kathryn March, anthropology, founder of CNSP. “Because of the insurgency before, parents are worried about their kids’ safety if they allow them to go. In recent years, the participation has lowered to five or six students.”

March’s concern for the program’s continuation has mounted because of the current financial state of the University. “We are not at a time when we have the luxury of running a program that is losing money. If the participation rate doesn’t go up, we are afraid that the University would put additional pressure on closing the program.”

Thomas O’Toole, executive director for Professional Development and Student Programs in Cornell Institute of Public Affairs (CIPA), echoed March’s concern. “CNSP is very significant to Cornell in that it is the only program that’s offering a third-world country experience to students in CIPA,” he said. “Graduate students in International Development need the experience for their area of study because that’s where they would like to work. And International Development is one of the rapidly expanding concentrations in CIPA.”

While the program stresses cultural immersion, the heart of the program lies in the four-to-five-week field research component. Each student takes courses in Nepali and Nepalese studies, but the major class is Research Design and Proposal Writing, where students generate a research proposal and are prepared for the field research that they will conduct towards the end of the semester.

Luke Hartman grad, who participated in CNSP in spring 2009, is one such student who took advantage of the program to complement his studies with his field research experience in Nepal. “That was my first real primary research experience. I get to talk to the local people and listen to their views,” he said. “I feel like I was well equipped with contextual knowledge and language skills to succeed in that environment. The experience in a developing nation is definitely valuable. It enriched me both as a graduate student as well as a person because you find out so much about yourself in the process.”

Hartman shares concern regarding CNSP’s future. He believes that to stop running the program would diminish the educational opportunities available at Cornell, and in turn, reduce the competitiveness of Cornell students. “I chose Cornell over other graduate programs because Cornell offers study abroad opportunities,” he said. “We would be confined to the opportunities on campus and that definitely diminishes the quality of the education here.”

Cornell alumni would be affected as well if the University stops running the program. “We would be leaving Cornell alumni working in Nepal without an anchor program,” O’Toole said. “CNSP has always been the focal point of networking in Nepal. Many of them depend on the facilities that CNSP provide to find internship opportunities in the country.”

The benefits of CNSP reach out and extend far beyond Cornell students to Nepalese students who take part in the program. Traditionally, only heavily weighted end-of-year exams stand between Nepalese graduate students and their degrees. Since 1993, however, Nepalese universities required a research thesis to graduate. Without any instruction or experience in research, many Nepalese graduate students were thrown off their feet.

“CNSP offers residential and research fellowships to Nepalese students. We have funded more than 200 Nepalese students in the past,” March said. “In addition to providing them with resources to participate, we fund 10 Nepalese students to conduct their research every year. As a result, many students have been able to complete their master’s degrees [because] of the funding we provide.”

As the civil war ended and Nepal seems to be stepping towards an extended period of stability, March and Gaulton have hopes that the participation will go up again in the coming semesters.

“It will be a great time for students to be in Nepal because they can witness the exciting changes that are going on in the country,” Gaulton said. “Now that the fighting has stopped, we are optimistic about the future of the program.”