NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Class of 2020 student Chiran Raj Pandey has become both the first ever student at NYUAD and the first Nepali student to be awarded the prestigious Ertegun Scholarship for study in the humanities at the University of Oxford. He will travel to the UK in the fall of 2020 to pursue a Master of Studies (MSt) in World Literatures in English.
Ertegun Scholarships are offered with the specific aim of realizing the potential of students to become leaders in their chosen field in the humanities. The scholarships are highly competitive, with just 15 awards made each year from over 1,500 applicants.
Pandey, a fourth year student majoring in Literature and Creative Writing, grew up and attended high school in Kathmandu, Nepal before being drawn to NYUAD by the promise of studying within a global community and the interdisciplinary nature of the literature and creative writing program.
At NYUAD, he has served as co-editor of Airport Road, a student-led creative journal, and is the founding editor of ABRA, an undergraduate journal of literary and cultural studies at NYUAD. He also created the curriculum for the Boys’ Education Network (BEN), a leadership development program for young high school students in the UAE. With the support of the NYUAD Office of Undergraduate Research, he attended the School of Criticism and Theory at Cornell University in 2019.
“The culture of learning that my professors and peers at NYUAD have created for me has significantly influenced my future ambitions,” said Pandey.
“My dream is to be able to share my passion for the humanities with young students and ultimately, I would like to work in education policy in Nepal. Having been fortunate to qualify for a fully-funded education at NYUAD and now at the University of Oxford as an Ertegun Scholar, I have a unique opportunity to dedicate myself to making education accessible to many.”
