Randolph professor, students present during annual ASIANetwork Conference

Kai Miller ’24 and Jordyn Shumpert ’25 at the ASIANetwork Conference

Suzanne Bessenger

Suzanne Bessenger, Randolph’s Barbara Boyle Lemon ’57 and William J. Lemon Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Comparative Philosophy, attended the annual ASIANetwork Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, with Kai Miller ’24 and Jordyn Shumpert ’25 earlier this month. 

During the conference, they presented the findings of research conducted in Nepal last summer during a trip funded by the ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty Fellowship.

Their work there focused on Buddhist nuns and education and took them to nunneries in two areas of Nepal—the Kathmandu Valley and Lumbini—over three and a half weeks. 

Miller, a comparative philosophy major, and Shumpert, a comparative philosophy and theatre double major, presented a poster about their research at the conference and participated in a roundtable discussion with other grant recipients. 

ASIANetwork is a foundation that promotes the study and understanding of Asia in the liberal arts, and the highly competitive fellowships provide funding for projects, including flights, room and board, and all research expenses.