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12Th Seminar of the IATS PROGRAM THEA 12th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies Sunday August 15th –Saturday August 21st, 2010 Vancouver, Canada Institute of Asian Research · the University of British Columbia Cover Credit: Original Artwork by Kalsang Dawa, Vancouver, British Columbia The 12th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies Convener: Tsering Shakya Hosted by: Institute of Asian Research & the University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Table of Contents Welcome Message from IATS President................ 8 Welcome Message from IAR Director................... 9 Panel Outline: Day by Day Assignment................. 14 Panel Schedule: Detailed Breakdown..................... 18 Special Events......................................................... 87 Campus Attractions................................................. 89 Maps........................................................................ 91, 92 Dining..................................................................... 93 Index....................................................................... 98 Thanks to Our Sponsors and Supporters................. 104 IATS 2010 Conference Credits Convener of 12th Seminar of IATS: Tsering Shakya, IAR University of British Columbia Conference Coordinator: Thea Park Conference Staff: Allen Chen, Yanyan Chen, David Luesink Committee Volunteers: Heather Harrick, Bei Peng IATS 2010 Members of the Board President: Charles Ramble, University of Oxford Secretary General: Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, University of Lausanne & CIRDIS, Vienna IATS Board of Advisors Hildegard Diemberger, Cambridge University Franz-Karl Ehrhard, University of Munich Hannah Havnevik, University of Oslo Matthew Kapstein, École Pratique des Hautes Études Geoffrey Samuel, Lancaster University Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, University of Lausanne & CIRDIS, Vienna Peter Schwieger, University of Bonn Tsering Shakya, University of British Columbia Lobsang Shastri, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives Elliot Sperling, Indiana University Leonard van der Kuijp, Harvard University Pasang Wangdu, Tibet Academy of Social Sciences Page | 7 Welcome Message from IATS President Welcome Message from the President A striking feature of the densely-packed programme of this seminar is the number of panels that now have free-standing conferences dedicated to their themes: Bon, Old Tibet, Anthropology, Medicine and Linguistics to name just some of them. In view of the diversification of the field and the great success of its offshoots, a number of colleagues have very reasonably raised the question of why we need a seminar of the IATS at all. Tibet is now vaster than it ever was, and in time the idea of a conference of Tibetan Studies tout court may seem as quaint as the concept of the now-obsolete (or rather, renamed) International Congress of Orientalists does to us today. But for the time being, at least, we still have a forum in which a philologist, an art historian and a political scientist from any of more than forty countries can sit together and barter thirteen centuries-worth of professional stock-in-trade and still feel they all did well out of the exchange. Perhaps Tibetan Studies will one day become a casualty of its own success, and fragment into a diaspora of subdisciplines from which scholars will look back at us with the bemusement we now reserve for those clustered Orientalists; but they’ll never know what they missed. It gives me very great pleasure to welcome you to the Twelfth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies! Charles Ramble IATS President Welcome Message from IAR Director Welcome from the Director of Institute of Asian Research (IAR) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) <<<insert text of letter here>>> Paul Evans IAR Director Page | 9 The Institute of Asian Research The Institute of Asian Research (IAR) provides innovative perspectives on policy research on Asia. It focuses on the generation of interdisciplinary knowledge about the different regions of Asia, and on the integration of local knowledge to form new perspectives on contemporary policies. As a leading research institute focused on contemporary Asia, IAR serves as a focal point at The University of British Columbia for some of the top scholars in their disciplines to collaborate with leading regional specialists on cutting edge policy research. It also serves as a unique centre for policy consultation and a training ground for senior policy makers interested in Asia. IAR offers the Master of Arts - Asia Pacific Policy Studies, the first and foremost graduate program in Asia Pacific policy in Canada. IAR also offers the Summer Institute China Program, unique in North America for its intensive training curriculum on operational challenges, problem solving, and decision-making in China. The Institute provides public seminars, lectures, and workshops through its five Centres and various research programs and projects such as the Asia Pacific Business and Economic Policy Research Unit, Asia Pacific Dispute Resolution Project, Program on Buddhism and Contemporary Society, Contemporary Tibetan Studies Program, and Program on Inner Asia. Through its various community outreach activities, the Institute provides a window on Asia fostering cultural exchanges, understanding and dialogue among communities of the Asia Pacific. Future directions at IAR will include important initiatives in collaborative research and teaching with colleagues across the UBC community. IAR’s participation in explorations regarding Asian art and contemporary policy issues in areas of health and human rights will see important initiatives over the next few years. IAR scholars will continue to offer policy advice and support to a range of public sector institutions in Vancouver, Ottawa and the world. You are Cordially Invited to the The Twelfth Seminar of the International Association of Tibetan Studies Opening Banquet When: Evening of August 16th, 2010 Where: 6393 N.W. Marine Drive UBC Campus Time: Cocktails at 6:30pm Dinner served at 7:00pm Please Note: This is a non-ticketed event. Please bring your IATS 2010 Name Badge for entry. Page | 11 MOA Opening Banquet: Showcase HIMALAYAN WALK By: Jeanet Snijders The video HIMALAYAN WALK is focused on the experience of walking in a natural environment and the consequently evolving awareness of being part of a landscape. Through the repeated sequence of images of a walking and prostrating woman - larger than the landscape and vaguely dissipating into it - and the monotonous sound of the wind, a kind of meditative state is being evoked. The viewer is being taken along on a continuous, contemplative journey without destination. Certain aspects of Tibetan culture inspire some of the woman’s movements: the prostrating ritual performed by pilgrims; and the hand reaching down from the sky, followed by the body, climbing down from the sky to the earth (in the very first scene), is derived from the legend of the first kings in early Tibet who reportedly descended from the sky by a rope (dmu-thag). Other images, like the ocean waves, refer to Tibetan history: The Himalayan plateau used to be the bottom of a primordial ocean. Jeanet Snijders (1964), filmmaker and graphic artist, uses her experiences and visual information, gathered during many journeys through the Himalayan region, for the realisation of artistic installations. She has showed her work at Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam, Museum Kunst Palast in Dusseldorf, at the International Festival of Cinema and Technology in Los Angeles and Seattle, and at the Ostrale in Dresden and elsewhere. The film lasts about 12 minutes and is shown with a loop. Idea and Art-production: Jeanet Snijders Editing and Sound: Jurgen Meekel and Jeanet Snijders Actress: Judith Heinsohn © 2006 Tuesday Evening: Movie Night Please join us for an IATS private screening of: Between the Lines: Exorcising the Old Year in a Himalayan Bonpo Village A film by Charles Ramble and Kemi Tsewang When: Tuesday August 17th, 2010 Where: Frederic Wood Theatre Time: 7:30 pm Ceremonies for the annual purification of villages and monasteries are a common feature of the Tibetan cultural world. Known as Gutor (dgu gtor) or Dögyab (mdos rgyab), these events appear in the ritual calendars of Buddhist and Bonpo communities alike. Between the lines is about the Dögyab of Lubrak, a small Bonpo settlement in Nepal’s Mustang District. Founded in the twelfth century by a scion of the famous Yangal clan (which later went on to establish monasteries in Dolpo), Lubrak is inhabited by families of hereditary priestly (bla mchod) “caste”, who perform a score of rituals in the village temple in the course of the year. The liturgy of the Dögyab is based on the cycle of the yi dam Khro-bo gtso-mchog mkha’-’gying, and the rubric of the ritual will be recognisable to anyone familiar with Tibetan tantric ceremonial. But the Lubrak Dögyab has some strikingly distinctive features. Before the ceremony, the lamas are divided – by a roster system and by dice-throws – into “monastic” and “lay” components, in which the latter play the role of patrons and, in one episode, the autochthonous genii loci who were subjugated by the founder lama. The interaction between the two groups oscillates between conflict – including a symbolic wrestling match – and integration, as in the requirement that the “patrons” join the ’cham dancers, brandishing their cooking utensils as sacred attributes (phyag mtshan). The dynamic of the opposition is enriched by the prominent role of the women
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