[Buddha-l] [Fwd: NEW UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA'S TIBET CENTER]

[Christopher Fynn]

-------- Original Message --------
From: Pommaret Françoise <fpommaret at gmail.com>
Date: 2009/2/8
Subject: NEW UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA'S TIBET CENTER
To: Christopher Fynn <chris.fynn at gmail.com>


NEW UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA'S TIBET CENTER WILL BRING TOGETHER CHINESE
AND TIBETAN RESEARCH – AND PEOPLE
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By Brevy Cannon
University of Virginia News

February 5, 2009 —The University of Virginia formally launched its Tibet 
Center at a luncheon Jan. 30. The new center consolidates,  integrates 
and significantly expands the University's world-renowned Tibet-related 
resources and programs.

The establishment of the Tibet Center represents the latest evolution in 
more than four decades of Tibetan studies at U.Va., a history that has 
been marked by "seemingly magical transformations," explained Tibet 
Center co-director David Germano, translating a phrase from Buddhist 
philosophy.

In addition to promoting the traditional scholastic goals of increased 
knowledge about Tibet, Germano and co-director Tashi Rabgey said they 
hope it can become an innovative model for how study, research and 
engagement can provide a neutral forum for constructive analysis and 
action on the pressing issues confronting Tibet, from bilingual 
education challenges to tourism's toll on the environment.

Bringing Tibetan and Chinese scholars and leaders together for dialogue 
and engagement on these issues will be the mission of the new Tibet 
Sustainable Governance Program

<http://www.uvatibetcenter.org/?page_id=987> also unveiled Jan. 30.

"We will offer critical thinking about important subjects by bringing 
together leading experts on a variety of issues from around the world — 
academic research at its best," said Germano, an associate professor of 
Tibetan and Buddhist studies. "We will combine that with social and 
political leadership by coming up with practical policy proposals and, 
in partnership with the nonprofit Machik 
http://www.machik.org/networking with Tibetans and Chinese on the ground 
to create working examples of our proposals."

The time is right for this new direction in Tibetan studies, Rabgey 
said. "In the wake of the Tibetan political unrest of 2008, a new 
generation of Chinese academics and scholars are taking their first 
serious look at the Tibetan region, and many are interested in 
addressing the problems that confront Tibet."

The launch of the Tibet Center is "a magnificent and crucial development 
that bodes very well for a wider range of Tibetan studies," said 
emeritus professor of religious studies Jeffrey Hopkins, a former 
translator for the Dalai Lama who led U.Va.'s Tibetan Buddhist Studies 
program for nearly 30 years. "This move into attempting to assist 
dialogue between Chinese and Tibetans is very, very important."

 From its new Minor Hall offices, the Tibet Center will continue Germano 
and Rabgey's work to promote Tibetan "geotourism," a more holistic 
approach to tourism that considers the many facets of tourism's impact 
on a place. The National Geographic Society coined the term in 2007, 
using the prefix 'geo' — meaning 'place' — to express the concept of 
"tourism that cares about the place, in the holistic sense," Germano said.

Later this month, the Tibet Center will bring five leading Tibetan 
tourism officials, including the director of tourism for the Tibetan
Autonomous Region, to Grounds for U.Va.'s second Geotourism Institute.

In addition to geotourism, the center will next focus on the challenges 
of education and language policy on the Tibetan plateau, with help from 
the Curry School of Education.

"We're very eager to increase our international education partnerships
by working with the Tibet Center," said Rebecca D. Kneedler, an
associate dean at the Curry School. In April the center plans to host
a closed-door meeting of high-level Tibetan and Chinese educational
leaders.

On Friday afternoon, the center hosted its first guest speaker, Lodi
Gyari, who has served as the Dalai Lama's chief political negotiator
for more than 25 years.

"I am amazed at all that is going on here at U.Va. and all the
potential," said Gyari, reflecting on his first visit to U.Va.
"Everything happens by collective action. No one accomplishes things
alone."

The History of Tibetan Studies at University of Virginia

Since the 1960s, the University of Virginia has been a preeminent
institution of advanced study and learning on Tibetan Buddhism,
including housing one of North America's premier collections of
Tibetan literature.

Starting in the 1970s, emeritus professor of religious studies Jeffrey
Hopkins, who served as the Dalai Lama's translator from 1979 to 1989,
built the largest and most famous Tibetan Buddhist Studies program in
North America. One of the field's most respected scholars and the
author of 39 books, Hopkins organized the Nobel Peace Laureates
Conference that brought the Dalai Lama and other dignitaries to the
University in 1998.

Beginning in the late 1990s, Germano worked with the University Library 
and U.Va.'s Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities to 
establish the Tibetan and Himalayan Library, a digital model of the 
Tibetan plateau that links a vast library of scholarship, photos, video 
and audio related to Tibet, contributed by scholars and community 
leaders in Tibet as well as researchers and academics from around the world.

In the process, U.Va. has become the leading American university in 
building engaged relationships inside Tibet, fashioning unique contracts 
with Tibet University and the Tibet Academy of Social Sciences, and 
hosting research and study programs in China for faculty and students 
from across North America and Europe, said Gowher Rizvi, vice provost 
for international affairs.

The Tibet Center has 11 affiliated faculty from a variety of 
disciplines, including Nicolas Sihlé (anthropology), Brantly Womack 
(politics), Dr. Leslie J. Blackhall (medicine) and Tsetan Chonjore (East 
Asian languages).
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