After graduating with a BS in Communication and Sociology from Bowling Green State University, Carole Elchert earned an MA in Interpersonal & Public Communication. In 1981, she traveled for the first time to Nepal and the Himalayas. Elchert returned to the Himalayan regions—including India, Nepal, Ladakh, Tibet—every year or two for ongoing study of these cultures. Since 1993, she has organized 17 Eco-cultural tours for adults and Cross-cultural programs for the students of Bluffton University. An outgrowth of her travels to Europe and Asia is her professional work as an editor, writer, speaker, lecturer, and photographer.
Her work as a writer includes performance prose, speeches, essays (Monkscript, 2002), short stories, novellas (Anonymous Triumphs), and Sketches from the High Country—an award-winning portfolio of prints and essays. In 1987, the Ohio Arts Council accepted her as a Writer-In-Residence for Ohio schools. As an editor, Elchert compiled the companion book to the video White Lotus; edited Philip Sugden’s Visions from the Fields of Merit; and continues to edit for writers, medical journals, graduate students, speakers, and professional websites. Her PowerPoint presentations feature such topics as communication-listening, art-photography, and the cultures of Tibet, Nepal, and other travel destinations. For 35 years, Elchert taught at University of Findlay and area colleges, mainly courses in communication, writing, academic skills, and Gender studies to graduate, international, incarcerated, and honors students. In 1992, the staff/faculty awarded her the first adjunct Teaching Excellence Award. As a writer, she continues to create stories with social-cultural-environmental themes.
With artist Philip Sugden—writer-photographer Elchert co-organized the 1988 Cultural Arts Expedition to Tibet and the Himalaya–collaborating with artists from 3 countries. During the eight-month expedition to Tibetan communities in India, Nepal, Ladakh, and Tibet—she photographed and recorded content for White Lotus: An Introduction to Tibetan Culture, an ambience presentation for WBGU PBS TV that features the ancient culture of Tibet. Innovative in the use of still images and field recordings—White Lotus, was produced by Elchert andSugden with grants from The National Endowment for the Humanities and The Ohio Arts and Humanities Councils. In 1991 with the University of Findlay, Elchert and Sugden hosted the 1989 Nobel laureate–the Dalai Lama of Tibet–for Leadership Day, one of the most attended, publicized events of his US tour. Fundraising with presentations over the years provided support for the Jinpa Tree Nursery Project and other environmental-educational-restoration work in Nepal.
Regarding Elchert’s photography: Images from 17 trips to Tibet and Nepal have appeared in exhibits in New York, Los Angeles, London, Melbourne, as well as art galleries and universities throughout the Midwest. Some of 26,000 Slide Catalog and digital photo images from trips were featured at the 1989 Kalachakra Ceremony conducted by the Dalai Lama and included in the permanent collection of Chicago’s Field Museum. Co-sponsored by Tibet House and the NY Office of Tibet, her multimedia presentation—Landscapes & Innerscapes—was part of a 1991-92 International Year of Tibet touring program to museums, art centers, and universities throughout the US. Michigan’s Global Awareness Consortium invited Elchert to regularly tour 8 community colleges with her Ecocultural PP presentations, which emphasized the history, culture, and geography of places she traveled. For instance, Elchert’s travels amassed images and experiences to reveal Tibet: As a Cultural Habitat. In 2010 & 2012, she featured Nepal & Tourism: On the Potter’s Wheel. In 2014, she presented The Contemporary Saga of Iceland: Its Global Lessons. Other PP presentations include: White Lotus: An Intro to Tibetan Culture; Buddhism & the Lotus Mind; Converging In-Sight (artistic visions from ancient and modern perspectives). Currently, as co-director with Philip Sugden of the documentary, Activismo: Art & Dissidence in Cuba, which received national and international Film Festival recognition/awards, they devote time to the necessary pursuit of distribution as well as an Elchert touring program for the benefit of a wider public audience.
Carole Elchert’s lifelong commitment is to pursue excellence in career and personal pursuits—promoting the vital growth and transformation of others in classrooms or public settings with stories and photographs.