Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Tibetan Buddhism understudied at UC

"Leading Buddhist Studies Program Eyes Tibetan Gap"
Angilee Shah (UCLA International Institute)

UCLA has an impressive collection of Tibetan-language texts, says Robert Buswell.

Center events on Tibetan Buddhism are part of an effort to create a UCLA chair in the field. On May 23, 2007 a high-ranking Buddhist abbot and a University of Michigan professor read the poetry of a modern Tibetan monk in the original language and in English translation.

Berkeley, CA (USA) -- A quick search of UCLA's library collections returns 472 entries of Tibetan language texts. The problem is that no one at UCLA is devoted to studying them.
.
"The only area that we really don't cover right now is Tibet," says UCLA Center for Buddhist Studies Director Robert Buswell, a scholar of the religious tradition in Korea.

Home to four professors and looking to hire more, UCLA has the largest faculty for Buddhist studies in the Western world and the largest U.S. enrollments in courses on Buddhism. Two UCLA art historians specialize in Buddhism, and faculty members from several other departments have strong interests. More>>

No comments: