upcoming events

Keynote Lecture: "The Dalai Lama's Future Succession" - Friday 9/13

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 01:11:22 +0000

Keynote Lecture: "The Dalai Lama's Future Succession" - Friday 9/13 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 09/03/2024 - 19:11

The Dalai Lama's Future Succession: Understanding the 14th Dalai Lama and His Formidable Contributions
Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang
Friday, September 13 at 4 pm

Hale 230 | Reception to follow

All are invited to join us on Friday, September 13 for a keynote lecture by Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang on "The Dalai Lama's Future Succession: Understanding the 14th Dalai Lama and His Formidable Contributions." Scholars Tenzin Dorjee (Columbia University), Cameron Warner (Aarhus University), and Nicole Willock (Old Dominion University) will be the respondents for the lecture. Free and open to the public, plus livestreamed at: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/93464212808

Talk abstract:

At a recent tenshug, a long-life ritual and prayer ceremony offered by the Tibetan, Mongolian, and Himalayan communities to the 14th Dalai Lama in New York, the Dalai Lama affirmed once again that he would live well past the age of 100. The crowd responded with boisterous applause. Yet, everyone including the Chinese government, Western governments and academics, former Tibetan politicians and activists have been in a rush to weigh in on his future succession. Why is this? My presentation will answer this question by contextualizing the 14th Dalai Lama’s legacy as a refugee who created foundational Tibetan institutions in exile for the thrivance of the Tibetan refugee community and their cause for freedom. In addition, given the Dalai Lama’s status as a formidable leader with immense global influence, he is capable of shaping and challenging the People’s Republic of China’s international relations and its legitimacy in Tibet. Understanding how and why international debates about the Dalai Lama’s succession have evolved requires a detailed consideration of his leadership accomplishments in exile.

Sponsored by the University of Colorado Department of Anthropology, Center for Asian Studies, and Tibet Himalaya Initiative together with the School of Culture and Society at Aarhus University. Co-sponsored by JLF Colorado.This is part of the Leadership and Reincarnation of the Dalai Lamas Project (LEAD): A Research Network on Succession, Innovation, and Community.

For further information, contact Professor Carole McGranahan at carole.mcgranahan@colorado.edu

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Dumra/The Secret Garden – Commemorating the CIA-Tibet Training Program at Camp Hale, June 7-9th

Anonymous — Sun, 19 May 2024 00:15:59 +0000

Dumra/The Secret Garden – Commemorating the CIA-Tibet Training Program at Camp Hale, June 7-9th Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 05/18/2024 - 18:15

Dumra/The Secret Garden – Commemorating the CIA-Tibet Training Program at Camp Hale, 1958-1964

Together with the Colorado Tibetan community, the Vail Symposium, and CU’s Department of Anthropology, the Tibet Himalaya Initiative is pleased to invite you to a special event this summer linked to Professor Carole McGranahan's longstanding research. On Sunday, June 9 at 12 noon, we will hold a memorial gathering at Camp Hale National Monument in Colorado. This event is to commemorate the CIA-Tibet training camp which operated at Camp Hale from 1958-1964. The Tibetan men who trained there were members of the Chushi Gangdrug army, a citizens’ army formed to defend the Dalai Lama, Tibet, and Buddhism against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. The CIA offered training and support to the Tibetan resistance, including this secret project at Camp Hale. The CIA officers called the training camp “The Ranch.” The Tibetan soldiers called it “Dumra,” meaning garden. The event is free and open to the public.

Co-Sponsors for the event are Polar Star Properties, 10^th Mountain Whiskey, and from the University of Colorado: The College of Arts and Sciences, the Departments of Communication, Ethnic Studies, Geography, History, Linguistics, Religious Studies, and Sociology, the Center for the American West, the Center for Asian Studies, the Institute for Behavior Science, and the Museum of Natural History.

Additionally, on Friday, June 7 at the Vail Symposium, Professor McGranahan, India-based filmmakers Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin, and retired CIA officer Bruce Walker will present a research talk "Dumra at Camp Hale: The CIA's Tibetan Resistance Program" about the secret CIA training camp for Tibetan resistance soldiers at Camp Hale that operated from 1958-1964. This presentation is the basis for a book they are co-authoring about Camp Hale’s Tibetan history. Their presentation will be live-streamed, and tickets are free for webinar access.

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Conversation about Tibetan History and Politics with Jamyang Norbu on Friday April 26

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 03:57:05 +0000

Conversation about Tibetan History and Politics with Jamyang Norbu on Friday April 26 Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 04/13/2024 - 21:57

Echoes from Forgotten Mountains: A Conversation about Tibetan History and Politics with Jamyang Norbu

April 26, Friday, 4 pm, Hale 230. Reception to follow

Join us for a conversation and book signing with critically acclaimed writer Jamyang Norbu about his just-released book – Echoes from Forgotten Mountains: Tibet in War and Peace. This magnum opus documents and comments on contemporary Tibetan history from an insider’s perspective. Ranging from detailed insights about aristocratic life to his personal experiences in the Tibetan resistance to invaluable analyses of Chinese and Tibetan government politics, Echoes from Forgotten Mountains offers perspectives gleaned over a lifetime of activism, criticism, and commitment. All are welcome to join us for this very special event.

Jamyang Norbu is the leading writer and critic of the Tibetan exile community. Novelist, historian, playwright, polemicist, and scholar, he is at the forefront of documenting and shaping contemporary Tibetan history. Author of The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes, former director of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, online essayist extraordinaire at Shadow Tibet, Jamyang Norbu has been praised as the “Lu Xun of Tibet” and denounced by Beijing as a “radical Tibetan separatist.” He was a member of the Tibetan resistance force based in Mustang, Nepal in the 1970s and is currently founder and director of High Asia Research Center in New York City.

This event is co-sponsored by the Tibet Himalaya Initiative, the Anthropology Department, the Center for Asian Studies, the UVA Tibet Center, and the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF).

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CAS Luncheon Series - Buddhist Feminism in Tibet: Promoting Women’s Education, Health, and Equality in the Nuns’ Journal, Gangkar Lhamo | Padma 'tsho on March 21

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 17:50:21 +0000

CAS Luncheon Series - Buddhist Feminism in Tibet: Promoting Women’s Education, Health, and Equality in the Nuns’ Journal, Gangkar Lhamo | Padma 'tsho on March 21 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/14/2024 - 10:50

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Feeding Asceticism: Himalayan Buddhist Renunciation, Devotion & Embodied Intimate Care | Lecture by Annabella Pitkin at 6pm on February 22nd

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 21:51:55 +0000

Feeding Asceticism: Himalayan Buddhist Renunciation, Devotion & Embodied Intimate Care | Lecture by Annabella Pitkin at 6pm on February 22nd Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/30/2024 - 14:51

Please join us for a lecture by Annabella Pitkin, Lehigh University on:

Feeding Asceticism: Himalayan Buddhist Renunciation,
Devotion & Embodied Intimate Care

6pm on Thursday, February 22nd
Humanities 250

In Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist biographies, devotion frames stories of the intimate, emotionally intense connections between gurus and disciples. By contrast, Tibetan Buddhist accounts of renunciation often highlight separation, departure, and absence, themes that appear in tension with the intimacy of the devotional ideal. This talk focuses on accounts of the life of the reclusive twentieth century Himalayan Buddhist meditator and poet, Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen (1895-1977), highlighting the impact of his renunciation on his closest disciples, especially women. Khunu Lama’s female students, in particular the renunciant meditator Drikung Khandroma Sherab Tharchin (1927-1979), attempted to practice embodied forms of devotional care for him, while grappling with the separations his renunciation required. Stories about disciples’ devotional care for Khunu Lama highlight the role of longing as a bridge between renunciation and devotional practice.

Annabella Pitkin is associate professor of Buddhism and East Asian religions at Lehigh University. Her research focuses on Tibetan Buddhist theories of modernity, Buddhist ideals of renunciation, miracle narratives, and Buddhist life-story writing. She is the author of Renunciation and Longing: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Himalayan Buddhist Saint (2022), which explores themes of renunciation, memory, and teacher-student relationship in the life of Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen.

Co-sponsored by Religious Studies, the Tibet Himalaya Initiative, and the Center for Asian Studies.

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