The conference, spanning over two and half days, consist of eight themed panels on various social science disciplines. For the conference, proposals were initially invited either as stand-alone papers or as panels. These papers/panels were then selected by an international committee representing the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies (ANHS), the Britain-Nepal Academic Council (BNAC) and the Social Science Baha.
The conference also included two keynote addresses delivered during the evenings (5–6:30 pm) of 24 and 25 July as well as a panel discussion on 26 July (2:30 – 4:30 pm). The first keynote entitled ‘Five Nepali Novels’ was delivered by Prof Michael Hutt on 24 July and the second keynote ‘Democracy in Trouble? Political Elite’s Attitude and Behaviour and Regime Stability in Nepal’ was delivered by Prof Mahendra Lawoti on the evening of 25 July. The panel discussion on ‘Strategic Plan for the Proposed Social Science Research Council in Nepal’ featured presentation by Prof Pitamber Sharma and comments from Prof Kathryn S March and Pratyoush Onta. These were public sessions in which admission was free and open to all on a first-come-first-served basis.
All panels and keynote sessions were held at Hotel Shanker, Lazimpat.