Dr. Karki was born and raised in a rural community in North-eastern Nepal, in the foothills of Mt. Kanchenjunga, a region shaped by rich ecological diversity and multilingual, multireligious, and multiethnic communities. These formative experiences continue to inform his ways of knowing, being, and engaging with the world. Grounded in lived experience, place-based knowledge, and practices of observation, witnessing, and reflection, his scholarship is guided by the understanding that knowledge is produced through relationships with communities, histories, environments, and systems of power.

Dr. Karki joined the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in July 2024. Prior to joining UBC, he was an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work and Human Services at the University of the Fraser Valley (2020–2024), an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Memorial University of Newfoundland (2019–2020), and an instructor in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University (2016–2018).

Education

PhD Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University, ON, Canada
MSW Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL, USA
MA Sociology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
MA English Literature, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
BEd Psychology, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
BA English Literature, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Dr. Karki’s scholarly inquiries are grounded in social justice, equity, community-engaged research, and critical social work scholarship. His research examines how historically marginalized and minoritized communities – including immigrants, migrants, refugees, caste-oppressed communities, and 2S/LGBTQIA+ people – experience, navigate, and resist systems of exclusion while fostering belonging, collective agency, well-being, and social change. Since 2020, he has led or co-led more than 24 research projects as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator, securing over $3.53 million in research funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), provincial funding agencies, community partnerships, and internal university grants. His major areas of research and scholarship include:

• Critical social work praxis and transformative justice, including anti-racist, anti-colonial, intersectional, and anti-oppressive approaches.
• Critical theories of power, governance, borders, dispossession, and structural violence, including postcolonial, posthumanist, biopolitical, necropolitical, and critical border studies.
• Migration, displacement, refugee resettlement, diaspora, belonging, identity, and settlement in Canadian and transnational contexts.
• Caste-based discrimination, caste-oppressed communities, and anti-caste justice in diasporic and transnational settings.
• Gender, sexuality, 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities, state-sanctioned exclusion, and homonationalism.
• Precarious work, platform-mediated gig labour, deskilling, racialized labour-market exclusion, and ethno-racial and gender segregation.
• Social determinants of health, collective well-being, and structural inequities among immigrant, refugee, and diasporic communities.

Dr. Karki welcomes the opportunity to mentor students interested in any of the above research areas.

Journal Articles

Jnawali, H. H., & Karki, K. K. (accepted). Decolonization of academic practices in Canadian universities: Non-Indigenous students as the allies. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.

Karki, K. K. (2026). Deskilling and labour market barriers among skilled racialized immigrants in British Columbia: A mixed-methods study. Comparative Migration Studies, 14(1), 1-25.

Karki, K. K., Mensah, A., Sethi, B., & Dhungel, R. (2026). Gendered constraints and structural barriers: Deskilling among skilled racial immigrants in the Canadian labour market. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 56 (3), 73-103.

Karki, K. K. (2026). Merit, migration, and marginalization: Exploring the skilled migration paradox through the lived experiences of racialized immigrants in Canada. The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1017/rep.2026.10057

Karki, K. K., & Bhattarai, A. H., & Gyan, C. (2026). Exploring the lived experiences of South Asian international students in Canadian higher education: Implications for social work practice. Journal of International Student, 16(4), 81-102.

Khatiwada, K., Chamlagai, L., Karki, K. K. & Pyakurel, S., (2026). Deportation after resettlement: The conditional belonging of Bhutanese Americans in the United States. Transformative Social Work, 4(1), 1-8.

Gyan, C., Lafrenière, G., Karki, K. K., Diallo, L., & Kasapa, A. (2026). Navigating the crossroads of race and skill: The socioeconomic integration challenges of highly skilled African immigrants in the Quebec labour market. Journal of International Migration and Integration. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-025-01348-9

Karki, K. K., Dhungel, R., & Marriette, N. (2025). Stigma, Discrimination, and Resilience: Experiences of Immigrants and Refugees Living with HIV Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 21(2), 222-243. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-09-2024-0100

Marriette, N., Dhungel, R., Karki, K. K., & Tovillo, J. B. (2025). Challenges and Resiliency: Social Determinants of Health, COVID-19, and the Disproportionate Impact on Immigrants and Refugees Living with HIV. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Helath, 22(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22010114

Karki, K. K., Siwakoti, H., & Wood, J. (2025). Biophilia and Social Work: Advancing Nature-based Health and Healing Perspectives in Social Work Practice and Education. Molung Educational Frontier, 15(01), 158–185. https://doi.org/10.3126/mef.v15i01.74006

Karki, K. K., Giwa, S., Mullings, D. V., Gyan, C., & Dhungel, R. (2024). Living in the state of uncanny: Forcibly displaced people in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Contemporary Research an Interdisciplinary Academic Journal, 7(1), 15-38. doi: https://doi.org/10.3126/craiaj.v7i1.67251

Gyan, C., Lafreniere, G., Diallo, L., Wilson-Forsberg, S., Karki, K.K., & Kinkkala, J. (2024). Empowering Highly Skilled African Immigrants: Key Protective Factors for Success in Quebec’s Labor Market. Journal of International Migration and Integration. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-024-01172-7

Brunner, L. R., Karki, K. K., Valizadeh, N., Shokirova, T., & Coustere, C. (2024). Unfamiliarity, uncertainties, and ambivalent long-term intentions: Conceptualizing international student-migrant settlement and integration. Journal of International Migration and Integration. doi: 10.1007/s12134-024-01116-1

Karki, K. K., & Shrestha, A., Jain, R., & Al-Saadi, R. (2024). Mental health and well-being of healthcare professionals amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Health, 14(2), 267-280. https://doi.org/10.3126/ijosh.v14i2.55959

Karki, K. K., Mullings, D. V., & Giwa, S. (2023). Socio-economic disparities among racialized immigrants in Canada. In A. Deshpande (Ed.), Handbook on economics of discrimination and affirmative action (pp.1-17). Springer.

Coustere, C., Brunner, L. R., Karki, K. K., Shokirova, T., Valizadeh, N., (2023). International students as labour: Experiencing the global imaginary. Higher Education, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01118-5

Karki, K. K., & Moasun, F. (2023). Vulnerable to precarity: COVID-19 and the experience of difference by newcomers, immigrants, and migrant workers in Canada. Molung Educational Frontier, 13, 132-159. doi:
https://doi.org/10.3126/mef.v13i01.56070

Karki, K. K., KC, H., Giwa, S., Mullings, D. V., & Raible, C. D. (2023). Making live and letting die: Nepali migrant workers returning from India encounter the state amid the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 7(3), 272-295. doi: https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMBS.2023.130762

Shokirova, T., Brunner, L. R., Karki, K. K., Coustere, C., & Valizadeh, N. (2022). Confronting and reimagining the orientation of international graduate students: A collaborative autoethnography approach. Journal of Teaching and Learning, 16(2), 5-27. doi: https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v16i2.7019

Mullings, D.V., Karki, K. K., Giwa, S., Brushett, L., Garland, S., & Thomas, J. (2022). Using critical race theory to analyse community engagement practice in a graduate social work course. International Journal of Educational Development in Africa, 7(1), 53-70. https://doi.org/10.25159/2312-3540/9769

Karki, K. K., Moasun, F., Freymond, N., Giwa, S., & Zoltek, A. M. (2022). MSW students’ perceptions of the professional identities of the social work practitioner and the social work researcher: Considerations for educators. Journal of Social Work Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2021.1997683

Karki, K. K., & KC, H. (2021). Revisiting the homeland through a transnational lens. Contemporary Research an Interdisciplinary Academic Journal, 5(1), 159-168. doi: https://doi.org/10.3126/craiaj.v5i1.40502

Mullings, D. V., Power, E., Giwa, S., Karki, K. K., English-Lillos, P., McLean, A., Caines, C., Ricketts, J., Burt, M. (2022). Using community service-learning as a conduit to decolonise Bachelor of Social Work Education. International Journal of Educational Development in Africa, 7(1), 138-156. https://doi.org/10.25159/2312-3540/9772

Karki, K. K., & KC, H. (2021). Revisiting the homeland through a transnational lens. Contemporary Research an Interdisciplinary Academic Journal, 5(1), 159-168. doi: https://doi.org/10.3126/craiaj.v5i1.40502

Giwa, S., Colvin, R., Karki, K. K., Mullings, D. V., & Warren, A. (2021). Analysis of “Yes” responses to uniformed police marching in pride: Perspectives from LGBTQ+ communities in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Sage Open, 11(2), 1-16. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/215824402110231

Karki, K. K., Dhungana, N., & Budhathoki, B. B. (2021). Breaking the wall of poverty: Microfinance a social and economic safety net of financially excluded people in Nepal. Molung Educational Frontier, 11, 26-53. doi: https://doi.org/10.3126/mef.v11i0.37835

Giwa, S., Mullings, D. V., Adjei, P. B., & Karki, K. K. (2020). Racial erasure: The silence of social work on police racial profiling in Canada. Journal of Human Rights and Social Work, 5, 224-235. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-020-00136-y

Mullings, D. V., Giwa, S., Karki, K. K., Gooden, A., Shaikh, S., Spencer, E. B., & Anderson, W. (2020). The settlement and integration experience of temporary foreign workers living in an isolated area of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-020-00788-9

Giwa, S., Mullings, D. V., & Karki, K. K. (2020). Virtual social work care with older Black adults: A culturally relevant technology-based intervention to reduce social isolation and loneliness in a time of pandemic. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 63(6-7), 679-681. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2020.1800885

Karki, K. K., & KC, H. (2020). Nepal-India relations: Beyond realist and liberal theoretical prisms. Journal of International Affairs, 3(1), 84-102. doi: https://doi.org/10.3126/joia.v3i1.29085

Giwa, S., Logie, C. H., Karki, K. K., Makanjuola, O. F., & Obiagwu, C. E. (2020). Police violence targeting LGBT people in Nigeria: Advancing solutions for a 21st-century challenge. Greenwich Social Work Review, 1(1), 36-49. doi: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8076-0277

Karki, K. K., Chi, M., Grosset, C., Vasic, J., Gokani, R., & Kumsa, M. K. (2018). Entering precarious job markets in the era of austerity measures: The perceptions of MSW students. Critical and Radical Social Work, 6(3), 291 – 310. doi: https://doi.org/10.1332/204986018X15388224539606

Karki, K. K. (2016). Walking the complexities between two worlds: A personal story of epistemological tensions in knowledge production. Qualitative Social Work, 15(5–6), 628–639. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325016652678

Books

Karki. K. K. (2025): Employment and deskilling: Experiences of skilled, racialized Immigrants in the Canadian labour market. Springer.

Adhikari, R., Francis, A. P., Karki, K. K., Jeeawody, B., & Abhram, L. (Eds) (2024). Emotional well-being: Contemporary approaches and practices. De Paul Centre for Research and Development (DCRD) Publications.

Book Chapters

Karki, K. K., Bista, R., Rasali, D. P., Myint, T., Grag, A. K., Gaulee, U., & Bista, K. (2024). Understanding the impacts of emotional well-being for human flourishing among Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) communities. In R. Adhikari et al. (eds.), Emotional well-being: Contemporary approaches and practices (p.162-188). De Paul Centre for Research and Development (DCRD) Publication.

Karki, K. K., & Moasun, F. (2024). Transnational migration as an engine for socio-economic Transformation in the age of globalization. In R. Baikady, et al. (Eds). The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Change (p. 1-16). doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87624-1_203-1

Pande Khadka, K., & Karki, K. K. (2024). Yoga as a therapeutic intervention and self-care tool for social workers: Considerations for social work education. In R. Adhikari et al. (eds.), Emotional well-being: Policy, research, education, and professional development (p.318-344). De Paul Centre for Research and Development (DCRD) Publication.

Karki, K. K., Mullings, D. V., & Giwa, S. (2023). Socio-economic disparities among racialized immigrants in Canada. In A. Deshpande (Ed.), Handbook on economics of discrimination and affirmative action (pp.1-17). Springer.

Karki, K. K. & Nepuane, D. (2021). Refugee demographics: Who is coming to Canada? In B. Sethi, S. Guruge & R. Csiernik (Eds.), Understanding the refugee experience in the Canadian context (p. 13-27). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Research Grants and Awards

Dr. Karki has secured and contributed to more than $3.53 million in research funding from national granting agencies, government partners, and universities, including SSHRC, the Government of Canada, the B.C. Ministry of Health, the Vancouver Foundation, the University of the Fraser Valley, and the University of British Columbia. As Principal Applicant and Co-Applicant, he has led and contributed to research on migration, refugee well-being, caste-based discrimination, labour-market precarity, racialized employment, LGBTQ+ inclusion, gender-based violence, immigrants and refugees living with HIV, public health, and social justice.

His current research projects explore intersectional precarity in Canada’s platform-mediated gig economy (SSHRC Bridge); family separation and well-being among Bhutanese refugees in Nepal (SSHRC Explore); occupational health and safety among racialized gig workers (SSHRC Bridge); the social determinants of health among LGBTQ+ youth in Nepal (Work Learn); the impacts of labour migration and family transformation on elder care in Nepal (Hampton Grant); and gamified feedback and educational well-being in low-resource settings (Work Learn). Dr. Karki is also involved as a Co-applicant in several major research projects, including immigrant worker resilience and its socio-economic consequences (SSHRC Insight Grant; PI: Dr. Charles Gyan); community responses to human trafficking (SSHRC Insight Development Grant; PI: Dr. Rita Dhungel); understanding precarity in British Columbia (SSHRC Partnership Grant; PI: Dr. Kendra Struss); and a community–university partnership addressing caste-based discrimination in Canada (SSHRC Partnership Development Grant; PI: Dr. Anne Murphy).

Grounded in mixed-methods, community-engaged, and participatory approaches, Dr. Karki’s research seeks to better understand the experiences of minoritized and marginalized communities and to inform policy, practice, and public debate. His recently completed research includes the labour-market experiences of skilled racialized immigrants (SSHRC Insight Development Grant), refugee mental health and settlement (UBC Internal Grant), immigrants and refugees living with HIV (Strategic Grant), caste-based discrimination in Canada and beyond (Government of Canada, MARP), and international students in Canada (Pathways to Prosperity), as well as the empowerment and capacity building of women living with HIV in Nepal (SSHRC Connection Grant; PI: Dr. Rita Dhungel), gender-based violence (SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant), Indigenous health worker well-being (B.C. Ministry of Health; PI: Dr. Rahul Jain), and student support during the COVID-19 pandemic (eCampusOntario; PI: Dr. Ginette Lafrenière).

Areas of Scholarship: Critical social work theory and praxis; migration, displacement, refugee resettlement, and transnational belonging; racialized and South Asian diasporas; caste-based discrimination and anti-caste justice; 2S/LGBTQIA+ communities, gender, sexuality, and homonationalism; biopolitics, necropolitics, sovereign power, borders, and state governance; social determinants of health and structural health inequities; HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, and gender-based violence; precarious employment, platform-mediated gig labour, deskilling, and labour-market exclusion.

Area of Practice: Community capacity building and mobilization; equity-oriented research, policy, and program planning; settlement and integration practice; casework with immigrants, refugees, and racialized communities; trauma-informed and culturally responsive practice; psychosocial and emotional well-being; advocacy, social justice practice, and community-based partnerships.