ISYT Conference: Blogging at ISYT Paris, 2009
I have arrived in Paris! Sans baggage, but in high spirits. I will be blogging about the presentations made at the Second International Seminar of Young Tibetologists (ISYT), which will be convening tomorrow, Monday September 7th through September 11th. A great group of dedicated young scholars has worked hard since the London meeting in 2007 to prepare what looks to be an excellent conference in Paris. Elijah Ary, Marc-Henri Deroche, Alice Travers and Nicola Schneider are the organizing committee and they have extended a wonderful welcome to me and I am very glad to be able to come and observe as a representative of Tsadra Foundation.
I am also pleased to note that Trace Foundation and the Fonds de Solidarité et de Développement des Initiatives Etudiantes supported ten young scholars of Tibetan origin who will be able to present at the conference because of their generosity. I will be sure to attend some of their presentations, although because so many are presenting each day, I will be unable to attend every session. However, I shall do my best to report as much of the comings and goings of the conference.
Background:
While this is technically called the second conference of ISYT, its heritage is more complex than a simple follow-up to the London 2007 conference. There was a Seminar of Young Tibetologists convened way back in 1977 by Martin Brauen and Per Kvaerne, which planted the seed for what is now the IATS (International Association of Tibetan Studies).
The current incarnation of ISYT was the brain child of some young people who met “after hours” at the last IATS conference in Bonn. This conference will include four days of presentations organized by the following six topics:
- Religious figures, doctrines and practices
- Economy and society
- Expressions and issues of modernity
- People and places of power
- Religious representations, edifices and places
- Women
Here is the list of presentations: If anyone sees something of particular interest in the schedule posted below, please do let me know and I’ll be sure to attend it.
Sonam Gyaltsen (Sarah Institute, India)
“Den, Art of binding in religious practices”.
Kalsang N. Gurung (Leiden University, Holland)
“Some episodes of gShen rab mi bo’s family life”.
Joshua Schapiro (Harvard University, USA)
“Nothing to Teach: Patrul’s Peculiar Preaching on Water, Boats and Bodies”.
Sharshon Tsering D. (Central University for Nationalities, Beijing, China)
“Dharma Sounds from the Shores of Yamdrok Lake: A Study of the sGrub-mchod Ceremony of Samding Monastery”.
Nyima Tashi (Gongwei Yang) (Sichuan University, China)
“The Termination of Village and the Reconstruction of Countryside – The resettlement of displaced peasants in Lhasa’s Liu-Wu station of Qing-Zhang Railway and their labour market transferration”.
Kabzung (University of Colorado at Boulder, USA)
“The anti-slaughter campaign on the eastern Tibetan Plateau”.
Diana Altner (Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany)
“Infrastructure Development and the Transformation of Everyday Life in Central Tibet”.
Seiji Kumagai (Kyoto University, Japan)
“Development of the Two Truths Theory in Tibet”.
Marc-Henri Deroche (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, France And Kyoto University, Japan)
“Study of The Lamp Illuminating the Two Truths written by ’Phreng po gter ston Shes rab ’od zer (1518-1584)”.
Elijah Ary (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, France)
“From Disciple to Divinity: a Shift in the Figuration of Tsong kha pa Blo bzang grags pa (1357-1419)”.
Tomoko Makidono (Harvard University, USA)
“Kathog Dge rtse Mahāpandita’s Commentary on Sa skya Pandita’s Sdom gsum rab dbye”.
Anne-Laure Cromphout (Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium)
“The Evolution of Tibetan Pop, a Sinicised or Authentic Practice?”.
Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy (Laval University, Québec, Canada)
“Star TV’s Himalayan mediations: a study of the impact of transnational TV reception on Tibetan onlookers in Dharamsala”.
Lama Jabb (Oxford University, England)
“Modern Tibetan Music and National Identity”.
Nathalie Gauthard (Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis, France)
“Un gser skyems sur les scènes internationales: du rite au spectacle”.
Kadri Raudsepp (Tallin University, Estonia)
“rNying ma and gSar ma: first appearances of these terms during early phyi dar (later spread of the Doctrine)”.
Pierre-Julien Harter (University of Chicago, USA)
“Doxography and philosophy: usage and significance of school denominations in Tibetan doctrinal literature”.
Ananda Massoubre (École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, France)
“The collected works (gsung ‘bum) of the 8th Karma-pa Mi-bskyod-rdo-rje (1507-1554)”.
Constance E. Kassor (Emory University, Atlanta, USA)
“How do Buddhas experience Emptiness? And what does it means for the rest of us?”.
Anne-Sophie Bentz (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland)
“The Dalai Lama in Exile: Metamorphoses of a Symbol of Power”.
Chris Vasantkumar (Hamilton College, USA)
“Co-Uterines or Trans-Nationals?: Overseas Tibetan Compatriots and Contemporary Multi-ethnic Visions of Chinese Transnationalism”.
Danzeng (Tenzin) Jinba (Boston University, USA)
“Making the Eastern Daughters’ Queendom – A Search for Identity In a Gyarong Tibetan Village – Moluo, Danba”.
Tim Myatt (Oxford University, England)
“Trinkets and Treasures: Tibetan material culture and the 1904 British Mission to Tibet”.
Alice Travers (Université Paris Ouest Nanterre, France)
“Administration and trade in the Tibetan far west: shape and issues of the dGa’ ldan pho brang presence in the mNga’ ris province from 1900 to 1959”.
Sonam Tsering (Sichuan University, China)
“Bod kyi srol rgyun srid khrims gyi ngo bo dang da snga’i gnas stangs la dpyad nas spyi tshogs bde ‘jags la phan nges pa’i thabs ‘ga’ rags tsam gleng ba”.
Drukmo Khar (Central University for Nationalities, Beijing, China)
“A Historical Study on Kha gya Buddhist Monastery”.
Maggie Hui (Chinese University of Hong-Kong)
“Everyday sacredness in Amdo Architecture”.
Daniel Berounsky (Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
“Notes on holy place ‘White Vulture Rock’ (Brag dkar bya rgod) in Thewo and 12th century Bonpo sage Skyang ’phags ”.
Dobis Tsering Gyal (Lhasa Archives, TAR, China)
“gZhung sa dga’ ldan pho brang gi sa gnas srid ‘dzin byang spyi dang byang spyi sde khag gi lo rgyus yig tshags kyi skor la dpyad pa”.
Brandon Dotson (Oxford University, England)
“Theorizing the King: Implicit and Explicit Sources for the Study of Tibetan Sacred Kingship”.
