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Dr. Mabel Gergan, Assistant Professor of Asian Studies at Vanderbilt University, gave a talk entitled “An Indigenous Geopoetics of the Apocalypse” on Friday January 30, 2026 co-sponsored by the  Tibet Himalaya Initiative, Center for Asian Studies, and the Department of Geography.  Dr. Gergan’s visit also included a lunch meeting with graduate students in Geography, Religious Studies, and Environmental Studies.  

The talk was about the ways in which indigenous activism in Sikkim against proposed hydropower development draws on oral histories and prophecies regarding Sikkim as a sacred hidden valley (beyul) and of the concealment of treasures in the Dzongu Valley, the homeland of the Lepcha people.  The presentation brought together concerns of indigeneity and Buddhism with questions of marginalization and ecological devastation, focusing on Indigenous “geopoetics” as a philosophy grounded in place as a way of maintaining hope. 

The talk was well attended by audience members from Geography, Ethnic Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Religious Studies as well as the broader public. 

Image: Beyul Dzongu's Sacred Landscape, North Sikkim (Photo Taken by Tsering Lhamo)