notes on contributors robert bArnett is Director of the Modern tibetan studies Program at columbia university and has taught at Princeton, beida, tibet university in Lhasa, and elsewhere. His recent articles have included studies of tibetan cinema and television within tibet, women and pol- itics in the tAr, the history of post-1950 leaders in tibet, and an analy- sis of Western political uses of the tibetan issue. His recent books include Tibetan Modernities: Notes from the Field (co-edited with ronald schwartz, 2008), and Lhasa: Streets with Memories (2006).

Katia buFFetriLLe is an anthropologist, resarcher at the École pra- tique des Hautes Études and member of the uMr 8155 (centre de recherche sur les civilisations de l’Asie orientale). she is the author or editor of many articles and books. Here last publications include the translation (with D. Lopez) of burnouf’s Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism (university of chicago Press, 2010) and (co-edited with A. M. blondeau) Authenticating Tibet: Answers to 100 Chinese Questions (university of california Press, 2008).

Hildegard DieMberGer is director of the tibetan studies Programme of the Mongolia and inner Asia studies unit, Department of social Anthropology, university of cambridge, and is research asso- ciate of the Austrian Academy of sciences and the italian ev-K2-cnr committee. Her publications include the book When a Woman becomes a Religious Dynasty: the Samding Dorje Phagmo of Tibet (columbia university Press 2007), and with Pasang Wangdu, the trans- lations of the Shel dkar chos ’byung (Verlag der oeAW, Vienna 1996) and the Dba’ bzhed (Verlag der oeAW, Vienna 2000). thierry DoDin studied tibetology, anthropology and comparative religions. He has conducted different research projects on cultural change and modern history in tibet and Himalayan areas for the university of bonn in Germany. He was a trustee and then the execu- tive director of tibet information network between 1998 and its demise 76 notes on contributors in 2005. He is the founding director of a successor-organisation, tibetinfonet.

Marie-Dominique eVen is a reseacher at the centre national de la recherche scientifique (Groupe sociétés, religions, laïcités, uMr 8582) in Paris. trained in chinese and Mongolian studies, she has worked on Mongolian shamanistic oral tradition and popular beliefs, and co-authored with romanian colleague rodica Pop a translation of the Secret History of the Mongols. she is now focusing on the religious developments in contemporary Mongolia. Part of her research concerns the situation of the Mongols in china.

Mireille HeLFFer is an ethnomusicologist and an honorary director at the centre national de la recherche scientifique (cnrs) in Paris. she is the author of numerous publications about the castes of musicians in nepal, the songs of the tibetan epic of Gesar and above all the liturgi- cal repertoire (vocal and instrumental) of tibetan buddhist monaster- ies, especially the liturgical music of Zhe chen monastery in nepal about which she is a recognised specialist and has written many arti- cles.

Fabienne JAGou (Ph.D. Paris, École des Hautes Études en sciences sociales) is associate professor at the École française d’extrême- orient. she teaches at the École normale supérieure in Lyon and at the Lyon Political science institute. she is the author of Le 9e Panchen Lama (1883-1937) : Enjeu des relations sino-tibétaines (eFeo, 2004) and the editor of “conception et circulation des textes tibétains”, Revue d’Extrême-Asie (15, 2005) and co-editor (with P. calanca) of “border officials”, Sinologie française, n° 12, beijing: Zhonghua shuju, (in chinese, 2007).

Fernanda Pirie has carried out anthropological research in Amdo and Ladakh since 1998. she is the author of Peace and conflict in Ladakh: the Construction of a Fragile Web of Order (brill 2007), and coeditor of Modern Ladakh: Anthropological Perspectives on Continuity and Change (brill 2008) and of Conflict and Social Order in Tibet and Inner Asia (brill 2008). she is a university Lecturer in socio-Legal studies at the university of oxford.