Karun was born and raised in a rural community in eastern Nepal – profusely laden with spectacular landscapes of Mt. Kanchenjunga and a wide range of flora and fauna. The diverse topography and people with multilingual, multireligious, and multiethnic identities shape his ways of knowing and being. He embodies a rustic life of Indigenous Nepali that contours his inner ‘self,’ and this has been the main source of his new knowledge production. He believes that our epistemology or understanding of and interaction with the world (how do we know that we know what we know) comes through what we experience, observe, witness, and perceive in our everyday lives.

Karun joined the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia in July 2024. Prior to joining UBC, he was an Assistant Professor with the School of Social Work at the University of the Fraser Valley (2020-2024) and the 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

Karun’s scholarly inquiries are grounded in critical theories, including anti-racism, anti-colonialism, intersectionality, and anti-oppressive social justice praxis. Additionally, informed by postcolonial theory and posthumanism, Karun is more interested in understanding how biopolitical and necropolitical spaces within the borders of the nation-states govern people and how the state’s sovereign power becomes a persistent recurrence of the process of exclusion and disposition of people in light of today’s urgent issues, including the migration crisis, the rise of populism, homonationalist practices, and state-sanctioned targeting of gender, sexual, racial, and ethnic “others.” More precisely, he explores the sense of belonging among the racialized diaspora and minoritized communities, including immigrants, refugees, and LGBTQ+ people in Canada and internationally. He is also interested in topics such as ethno-racial and gender segregation in the Canadian labour market and the social determinants of health of diasporic and marginalized communities. Karun welcomes the opportunity to mentor students interested in any of the above research areas.

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

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) Publication.

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.

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., & 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

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

Principal Investigator, 2024-2026
Hampton Fund Research Grant, UBC, $15,000.00
The Mental Health and Well-being of Elderly Refugees: Evidence from Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal

Principal Investigator, 2025-2026
Arts Undergraduate Research Award (AURA), UBC, $3,000.00
The Trauma of Family Separation: Psycho-Social and Metal Well-being among Nepali Speaking Bhutanese (the Lhotshampa) People in Canada

Co-applicant (PI: Dr. Rita Dhungel), 2024-2026
SSHRC Connection Grant, $29,704.00
Empowerment and Capacity Building of Women Living with HIV: Speaker Serie

Co-applicant (PI: Dr. Rubee Dev), 2024-2025
Seed Funding for Collaboration with the Global South, $9,940.00
Women’s Heart Health in Nepal: Missed Opportunities and Paths Forward

Principal Investigator, 2022-2024
SSHRC Insight Development Grant, $72,000.00
Employment Experiences of Skilled Immigrants in the Canadian Labour Market

Principal Investigator, 2022-2023
University of Fraser Valley, $22,000.00
Gender Role and Autonomy in Decision-Making

Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Dr. Hari H. Jnawali, Wilfrid Laurier University), 2024-2025
SSHRC Connection Grant, $21,000.00
Population Settlement in the Contested Territories of South Asia

Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Dr. Victoria Esses, University of Western Ontario), 2023-2024
Pathways to Prosperity Canada, $10,000.00
Settlement Experiences of Accompanying Partners of International Students in Canada

Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Dr. Rita Dhungel, University of the Fraser Valley), 2023
SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis, $30,000.00
Gender-Based Violence Against Immigrants and Refugees Living with HIV in Canada

Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Dr. Rahul Jain, University of North British Columbia), 2022-2023
Interior Universities Research Coalition (IURC) and the B.C. Ministry of Health, $49,996.00
Mental Health Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on British Columbia’s (B.C.) Indigenous Health Care Workers

Co-Investigator (PI: Dr. Rita Dhungel, MacEwan University), 2020-2021
Strategic Grant, $20,000.00
Understand the Experiences of Immigrants and Refugees Living with HIV in Alberta

Co-Investigator (PI: Dr. Ginette Lafrenière, Wilfrid Laurier University), 2020-2021
The Student Experience Design (SXD) Lab, part of eCampusOntario, $69,664.00
Understanding Student Support Needs for Remote Learning Within a COVID-19 Context

Areas of Scholarship: Racialized diasporas and minoritized communities (including immigrants, refugees, 2SLGBTQ+ people); biopolitics, necropolitics and sovereign power; social determinants of health; human trafficking, HIV/AIDS and migration; precarious work and health/well-being of workers; transnational social work research and practice

Area of Practice: Community capacity building; research, policy and planning; case worker; working with immigrants and refugees; psychosocial and emotional well-being of BIPOC people