University Partnerships
Faculty-Led Global Learning Programs in Nepal
StoryBridge collaborates with colleges and universities to develop immersive, field-based learning experiences rooted in storytelling, cultural exchange, reflective practice, and meaningful community relationships.
Programs begin in Kathmandu and move through Dhulikhel to the Chautara–Irkhu region of Sindhupalchok District. Students may engage with cultural heritage, schools, agriculture, coffee production, environmental learning, and locally guided community experiences.
A Field-Based Program Designed for Academic Integration
StoryBridge Nepal works with faculty leaders, study-abroad offices, and international education teams to connect academic goals with immersive, place-based learning in Nepal.
Students move beyond observation by learning alongside Nepali educators, community partners, agricultural leaders, and one another. Each program combines structured field experience with reflection, ethical storytelling, and opportunities for collaborative learning.
Programs can be shaped for education, communications and media, global studies, environmental studies, anthropology, sociology, agriculture, and related interdisciplinary fields.
Building the Program Before Expanding It
StoryBridge is intentionally developing its university pathway through local collaboration, firsthand route verification, and a small founding experience before welcoming student cohorts.
Established Program Experience
StoryBridge grows from nearly two decades of international storytelling, education, media, and cross-cultural program development through Kids Share Workshops, founded in 2008.
2026 Adult Founding Journey
A small adult group will help test and document the complete Nepal experience from November 1–15, 2026, offering practical feedback before university programs begin.
2027 University Partnerships
Faculty-led programs can then be developed with clearer logistics, established local relationships, documented learning sites, and an experience tested from a participant perspective.
A Sample Academic Route Through Central Nepal
Programs are designed around a connected journey rather than a single isolated site. The route introduces students to Nepal’s cultural heritage, environmental settings, educational communities, agriculture, and contemporary daily life.
Kathmandu
Arrival, orientation, living heritage, urban context, and guided cultural learning at the beginning and conclusion of the program.
Dhulikhel
Himalayan geography, environmental observation, agriculture, wellness, regional heritage, and reflective field learning.
Chautara
School partnership, collaborative ESL and arts learning, community relationships, storytelling, and regional cultural engagement.
New Araniko
Coffee cultivation, processing, hospitality, local enterprise, food systems, and the relationship between land and livelihood.
Sukute River
A supported overnight experience connecting teamwork, river geography, recreation, reflection, and group development.
Final length, sequence, academic activities, and site visits are developed with faculty and may be adjusted according to disciplinary goals, seasonal conditions, institutional requirements, and local partner availability.
Academic Areas & Learning Possibilities
StoryBridge provides a flexible field framework that faculty can connect to course content, departmental priorities, student learning outcomes, and guided reflection.
Education & ESL Learning
Classroom observation, collaborative English-language activities, arts-based learning, comparative education, and respectful exchange with local educators and students.
Communications, Media & Storytelling
Ethical photography, short-form documentary work, interviews, field notes, photo essays, reflective writing, and collaborative storytelling.
Global Studies & Anthropology
Cultural traditions, contemporary change, migration, identity, ethics, community life, and the responsibilities of cross-cultural engagement.
Environmental Studies
Mountain and river environments, agriculture, food systems, rural livelihoods, sustainability, land use, and locally grounded environmental knowledge.
Agriculture & Social Enterprise
Coffee cultivation and roasting, value chains, hospitality, entrepreneurship, regional development, and connections among land, labor, and community.
Intercultural Learning & Reflection
Guided journaling, discussion, cultural humility, relationship building, perspective taking, and reflection on personal and professional growth.
Educational & Community Partners
StoryBridge programs are developed with Nepali educators, country directors, community partners, and local hosts whose knowledge helps guide program content, timing, cultural preparation, and participant support.
Shree Gyan Mandir Model Secondary School
A StoryBridge educational partner in Chautara where future student cohorts may learn with local educators and students through collaborative ESL, arts, media, and storytelling activities shaped with school leadership.
New Araniko Coffee Resort
A Chautara field base connecting accommodation with coffee education, agriculture, local hospitality, community enterprise, and access to nearby learning relationships.
Dhulikhel Learning Region
A regional setting for environmental observation, Himalayan geography, agriculture, wellness, cultural heritage, and reflective learning before the longer community-based portion of the journey.
StoryBridge Nepal Country Team
Programs are supported by founder Kristina Applegate, Nepali country directors Dikshant Bhattarai and Binu Majhee, local partners, professional drivers, and regional hosts familiar with the route and communities.
Institutional Planning & Participant Support
Each partnership begins with conversation. StoryBridge works with faculty and international-program teams to shape a program that is academically relevant, logistically realistic, culturally respectful, and appropriate for the participating cohort.
Small Cohorts
Programs are designed for small groups, generally up to 12 students with accompanying faculty, to support meaningful interaction and manageable field logistics.
Academic Alignment
Faculty identify course goals, assignments, reflection methods, and desired outcomes while StoryBridge helps connect them with appropriate settings and partners.
Predeparture Preparation
Participants receive cultural orientation, packing and health guidance, communication expectations, route information, and preparation for ethical engagement.
In-Country Support
StoryBridge coordinates local relationships, accommodations, planned ground transportation, professional drivers, field facilitation, and communication support.
Potential Student Outcomes
Specific outcomes are developed with each institution, but the StoryBridge framework is designed to support growth in intercultural understanding, ethical practice, collaboration, reflection, and applied academic learning.
Explore a StoryBridge University Partnership
If you are a faculty member, study-abroad coordinator, academic dean, or international-program director interested in developing a future StoryBridge Nepal program, we welcome the opportunity to learn about your goals.
An introductory conversation is exploratory and does not commit your institution to a program.