Kathmandu Wandering
Art and Culture in a Himalayan Valley
Join me on this virtual tour and online course
Kathmandu: a mystical city.
Through community posts, on location live feeds, and participation in group conversations, I will guide you around Kathmandu as I travel through one of the oldest cities in the world.
Video still of Fred recording a talk about Shechen Monastery. Delivered to his univversity students in Las Vegas, USA.
Along with my mom, I started traveling the world when I was eleven years old. My first trip was aboard a ship across the Atlantic Ocean. We settled in Paris for three and a half years.
Along the way, I acquired coins, both modern and ancient, that would develop into a large collection over time. Some of the coins that came into my hands were from places where I had never traveled. To find out where they came from, I would look up the countries in my world atlas and then read about them.
I became fascinated with place names that, when spoken, ended with the sound of 'ou.'
Uluru, Machu Picchu, Timbuktu. And Kathmandu.
I was determined to eventually visit all of those places and as often as I could. With the exception of Timbuktu, I have fulfilled those boyhood dreams of adventure. And much more. The city of Kathmandu was the primary destination of my first trip to Asia in 2001.
November 2 - November 14
Jeff Greenwald. Shopping for Buddhas
Alley leading to the Stūpa of Baudhnath
Our desire to travel begins in our imaginations early in life. Like Joseph Conrad, I poured over my atlas with the coins I had gathered while traveling through Europe with my mother. By the age of 12, I was reading Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, and de la Montaigne.
Over the years I have learned to travel with purpose, humor, risk, and curiosity.
That is the beauty of the virtual journey. With the correct guide - I assign myself - and a well-planned series of destinations, not to mention an array of learning opportunities, you can settle back in your armchair and dream of embarking on your next voyage while you study and follow me on mine, sorry, I mean, ours.
JOURNEY and COURSE ITINERARY
KATHMANDU: SACRED VALLEY:
Activating Our Senses
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MAKING A KORA:
Stupas and Pilgrimages
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DURBAR SQUARES OF KATHMANDU:
Epic Stories, Sacred Writings
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BUDDHIST MONASTIC LIFE:
Shechen and Kopan
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CELESTIAL AND TERRESTRIAL:
A Cast of Deities
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MINDMAPS:
Thangkas and Mandalas
How artists, explorers, photographers, and writers discovered Angkor.
Travel widely, travel deeply.
FIELD NOTES:
Reflecting on Our Journey
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Everyday we will have a story to share.
You will laugh, wonder, and learn.
LEARNING Content
7 THEMED LEARNING MODULES
VIDEOS AND AUDIO PODCASTS
INTERACTIVE LEARNING MEDIA
BOOKS, ARTICLES, READINGS
ILLUSTRATIONS AND
PHOTO GALLERIES
LIVE ON LOCATION AND SCHEDULED WEBINARS
How My Courses Are Organized
Please go to the WanderSight Homepage where you learn more about me, how I organize courses, my mission in offering these adventures, and numerous details about how
WanderSight eLearning is organized.
Or, click on the button for a brief overview of how I teach and how you will travel and learn.
Journey Activities and Explorations
From Bhaktapur to Baudhanath to Thamel, every place we visit, and every person we meet,
so too will you experience as we travel around the Kathmandu Valley
JOURNEY AS CONTEMPLATION
we need to learn those subjects and ideas that define our humanity. Learning should be what we need for the moment, but gives us something to think about for a lifetime.
IMAGING KATHMANDU
Since I am a photographer and media producer, I know many of you would enjoy photo tips and ideas along the way. I have photographed around the world with film from medium format to large view cameras. Broadcast quality video and digital SLRs. Oh yeah, and the occasional iPhone picture.
WRITING OUR JOURNEY
WanderSight courses are developed with travel, art, and the planet as guiding themes. Through our WS Communities, you can submit your own journal-style writing. At the conclusion of a course, you can download my journal that represents the journey we took together.
SHOPPING FOR BUDDHAS
Collecting 'souvenirs,' the French word for 'memories.' We buy something in a seller's stall because years later it will trigger thoughts about our journey.
Kopan Monastery. Cabinet of Sūtras
Illustrated Itinerary
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Read what students say about my teaching
For more than two decades, I have served as a Professor of Global Art and Culture at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas. In 2009, I decided to transition from traditional classroom teaching to embrace the world of online education and remote teaching. This shift allowed me to explore and share my expertise in subjects such as Art History, Photography, and Film Studies across various continents, including Asia, Europe, and from regions in the Ancient Americas like Peru, Yucatan, and the American Southwest. Through my virtual teaching platform, I have extended the unique learning experiences that were once exclusive to university students to a wider audience of curious travelers and enthusiastic learners who share similar interests and passions.
The student reviews are from my college teaching over the last couple of years.
"If there's anything I've gotten from this course, it's that you've inspired me to travel even more. From the very first video you presented, I was surprised how we got a nomadic professor, and I was also a bit jealous that we don't get to travel with you. It would've been very immersive."
"Professor Sigman has delivered an unbelievable experience to his students. Taking us, not only on his personal & professional journeys abroad - but he created a place online that brought new worlds to us while we sat wide eyed viewing all the landscapes, architecture and lives that he shared."
"I find myself feeling that I have gained something beyond knowledge: awareness. I also find myself contemplating the world more often and with an awareness of artistic thinking that I did not have when this class began. Professor Sigman has posed the question “why” again and again in our lessons, encouraging us to question the world around us and how we think about it."
"What I personally gained through studying the culture and art of Bali is that we need to start appreciating and respecting nature for what it gives us. The art visualizes how we should be living in harmony with the planet."
"The Professor's videos are so beyond outstanding. His candor and candid retelling of his life - pulling art and memories together - he let us in and showed us this whole new world."
What You Can Expect
- Daily Updates in my field notes, short videos, community posts. Scheduled Live Feeds such as...Live From Kathmandu!
- Engaging topics along the way about where we are.
- An enriching experience in each learning module with access to downloadable educational materials and optional quizzes for self-assessment.
- Let me be your eyes and ears. Wanna see something specific where I am? Let me know what it is and I'll attempt to include your request.
- I follow something of an itinerary, but the best travel experience is also spontaneous.
- Gotta question? Post in the course Community Forum.
- At the journey's end, each participant will receive a copy of my journal illustrated with photographs I make along the way. By the time you eventually make it to Kathmandu yourself, you will have already created memories.
Field Notes: Meeting Remarkable People
write about my conversation with Sean re: photograping the stupa. Ask yourself why did you come here. Gurdjieff, "Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening."
Watch my story with this wonderful Newar crafstman in my video at the top of the page.
Newar metal craftsman. Baudha, Nepal. July, 2001.
(Top) Morning after making his portrait. (Right) Eleven years later I returned with his framed portrait as a younger man.
Wander Thoughts is where I write on topics related to the four areas of learning in my courses: Journeys, Art, the Earth and, the Dharma.
Join Wander Thoughts now and you will have access to our online community. Before the course even begins, you will receive videos and learning materials. In fact you are under no obligation to enroll in any of my courses. Notification will be sent when a course is being offered.
Bagan, Myanmar, with my long-time assistant Kyaswe
Course Opens December 32nd
Let's stay in touch.
Join my WanderThoughts blog where I post informative and (hopefully) interesting content. From there you can get a feel for what we do. There is the occasional email with announcements of new offerings.
"Sometimes one simply doesn't understand
what one is looking at...
To learn a place is like getting to know a person:
it is an exercise in depth psychology."
- Andrew Solomon, from Far & Away.
