Ms. Carolisa Watson is currently pursuing a PhD in geography at the University of Kansas. Her research revolves around questions of placemaking, home, and identity. She is engaged in collaborative ethnographic work with displaced communities. Ms. Watson has previously received FLAS funding to study Tibetan, Mongolian, and Chinese languages. She holds bachelor’s degrees in East Asian languages and literatures and in global and international studies from the University of Kansas; she also holds an MA in folklore and ethnomusicology from Indiana University.
Ms. Watson’s Fulbright-Hays project is examining how Tibetan identity is expressed through placemaking in Dharamsala and the ways in which place and identity interact. As a visiting scholar, Ms. Watson is involved in archival and ethnographic fieldwork exploring the relationships between Tibetans, Dharamsala, and the governmental organizations, and how they impact the Tibetan diaspora in Dharamsala; the project is being carried out by studying the historical, contemporary, political, and social contexts of “territorialized exile” in a city. It is also drawing upon an interdisciplinary background in geography, folklore, religious studies, and media studies to understand how individuals interact with their larger communities and the city itself to create meaningful places and express collective and individual identity.