We are proud to announce the opening of a new program of Vietnamese language study beginning in the fall of 2018. Our new instructor, Nguyễn Phương Chung, comes to Columbia with extensive experience teaching Vietnamese at the college and graduate levels in Vietnam, developing pedagogy tailored to the specific demands of the Vietnamese language, and training diplomats at the US Embassy to Vietnam in Hanoi according to State Department standards.  Classes utilize a functional approach with heavy emphasis on learner participation and practical communication. Our program combines the basic six-tiered plan for language mastery currently used by the University of Social Sciences & Humanities in Vietnam with the standards and techniques developed by the State Department for diplomatic language training. Students are encouraged to apply and enhance their practical communicatory skills through exploration of Vietnam’s rich cultural heritage, as well as the diversity and vibrancy of contemporary Vietnamese society.

We currently offer an introductory level of Vietnamese, UN1101 (no experience necessary) and UN1102, as well as a second-year + heritage level course UN1201 and UN1202 (placement exam required)  throughout the year, with additional possibilities on a case-by-case basis, for those interested in advanced study during the 2018-2019 academic year. Regular third- and fourth-year courses will also be offered as the program grows.  The Vietnamese language program is also proud to serve the needs of Columbia’s newly-formed graduate program in Vietnamese studies.  With the recent appointments of Liên-Hằng Nguyễn (History) and John Phan (EALAC), Columbia is now one of the only institutions to offer a unified graduate program on Vietnamese history, culture, and literary criticism, from premodern to contemporary times.  The Vietnamese language program is working closely with Professors Nguyễn and Phan to establish a premier center for Vietnamese language training here at Columbia.  Our long-term goal is to develop a program that will serve the needs of all levels of interest, from the beginner, to the heritage learner, to advance graduate students working on primary materials.

For more information on the Vietnamese language program, please contact Nguyễn Phương Chung.  For more information on Vietnamese studies at Columbia University, please contact Professor John Phan.

We are pleased to announce that Ying Qian, Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures, along with Debashree Mukherjee, Assistant Professor of Modern South Asian Studies, and Brian Larkin, Professor of Anthropology, have been awarded a Global Humanities Projects Grant.

The grant supports their project Thinking the Ecological in Media Studies which conceives of “ecology” as methodology as well as material reality, both fundamentally predicated on the specificities of time and place. With India, China, and Nigeria as their primary sites of study, the lead faculty hope to initiate a broad conversation on campus on the ways in which media condition our sensory environments, the ecologies of media labor and production, and the urgent need to think with “other” media from “other” places.

By Bart Qian

On March 28th, WEAI and the Modern Tibetan Studies Program hosted Alice Travers, a permanent researcher in the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and a member of CRCAO (Centre for Research on East Asian Civilisations – UMR 8155) at the Collège de France in Paris. The talk was moderated by Professor Gray Tuttle.

Dr. Alice Travers discussed the social history of 18th, 19th and 20th century Central Tibet and the Ganden Podrang government and its institutions as the Principal Investigator of the project, “The Tibetan Army of the Dalai Lamas, 1642-1959,” at the Sorbonne, Paris.

During the eighth century, the Tibetan Empire (618-842) conquered a region encompassing sections of modern-day Afghanistan, India, Xinjiang (Eastern Turkistan), and parts of China proper, and its army made Tibet one of the major powers in Eurasia. Though the Tibetan military declined drastically after the collapse of the empire, military culture continued to influence Tibetan civil and religious society. Popular perception views Tibet as a passive agent, receiving Mongol and Manchu aid for military affairs. For instance, the current mainstream Chinese academic literature credits the Manchu general Fuk’anggan (1753-1796) for helping establish and train the Tibetan army after the Gurkha Wars ended in 1792. These assumptions, however, ignore the Ganden Podrang’s active pursuit of military and state-building deployment since its foundation.

Dr. Travers based her research on the model developed for her database on 19th and 20th century Central Tibetan aristocrats, which explored the social mobility of Tibetan civil officials in this period. The audience asked multiple questions on the Tibetan military and Professor Tuttle commented on the conscious state practice of deploying military officials and soldiers to sites far from their home areas in the 19th and 20th century, which suggests that Tibetan troops were not simply local militia

Report by Ling-Wei Kung
Photos from Dedong Wei

On March 9, 2018, Dr. Leonard van der Kuijp (Professor of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies of Harvard University) gave a lecture on “Some Observations on the Social Status of the Spiritual Teacher in Tibet” at Columbia University. The event was moderdated by Dr. Gray Tuttle (Leila Hadley Luce Associate Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies of Columbia University) and co-sponsored by the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, and the Confucius Institute of Columbia University.

By studying early Tibetan historiography and biographies, such as The Testament of Ba/Wa extensively, Professor van der Kuijp profoundly discussed the social status of Tibetan spiritual teachers and the interactions between religious and secular leaders in different historical periods. Based on his philological research of texts related to the lives of significant Tibetan lamas, such as Butön Rinchen Drup (1290–1364), Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen (1292–1361), and the Eighth Karmapa Mikyo Dorje (1507-1554), Professor van der Kuijp contextualized the various dimensions of the lives of Tibetan gurus in the historical background of Tibetan society. The lecture provided the audience a lively and concrete scope to understand historical connections between Buddhism and Tibetan societies.

Around 50 guests atttended the talk, including scholars and students from Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, Renmin University, Minzu University of China, Bard College, etc. In the Q&A session, Professors Gray Tuttle, Dominique Townsend, and other scholars raised questions about some Tibetan historical figures and texts.

2018年3月9日，哈佛大学藏学与喜马拉雅研究讲座范德康（Leonard van der Kuijp）教授以“对西藏精神导师之社会地位的一些观察”为题，在哥伦比亚大学东亚系进行了相关讲座。本次活动由哥伦比亚大学现代藏学研究讲座滕华瑞（Gray Tuttle）教授主持，并由哥伦比亚大学东亚系、魏德海东亚研究所以及孔子学院三方共同赞助。

范德康教授通过大量梳理如《巴斜／哇斜》等古藏文史籍及相关人物传记，深刻地探讨了历史时期西藏地方宗教领袖的社会地位，宗教领袖之间的交往，以及与世俗领袖之间的互动关系。在通过语文学方法对布敦·仁钦朱（1290—1364）、笃补巴·喜饶坚参（1292-1361）、噶玛巴·弥觉多吉（1507-1554）等藏传佛教重要传承上师文本进行细致的个案分析，并将其放置在西藏社会历史脉络的基础上，范德康教授深刻地勾勒出历史时期西藏地方宗教领袖参与政治、社会与经济活动等各个面向，为听众认识藏传佛教与西藏地方社会的联系提供了鲜活而又具体的展示。

本次讲座参与情况踊跃，虽适逢学校春假，大量哥大师生与校外学术与文化界同仁仍前来参与听讲，现场听众近50人，反映良好。讨论与提问环节哥伦比亚大学滕华瑞教授与巴德学院宗教系唐斯万（Dominique Townsend）教授等听会人员先后就西藏历史人物、文献等部分进行相关提问，范德康对于西藏历史掌故娓娓道来。最后本次活动在愉悦的气氛中圆满结束。

A Conversation on Early Gelug Institutional History with José Cabezón (far left)

By Constantine Lignos

Over the Spring Break, WEAI and the EALAC department hosted a conversation with the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Dalai Lama Professor, Dr. José Cabezón, moderated by EALAC’s Leila Hadley Luce Associate Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies, Dr. Gray Tuttle. Dr. Cabezón spoke about the institutional history of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism in celebration of the 600th anniversary of both the death of Tsongkhapa and the construction of the Sera Monastery just outside of Lhasa. The event gathered Columbia students, faculty, and friends for an hour-and-a-half-long informal conversation, followed by a traditional Tibetan lunch with Dr. Cabezón. Dr. Cabezón laid out his theoretical framework underpinning the strength of the Gelug school in Tibet which he attributed to the homogenization of and the consistency between Gelug monasteries.

Dr. Cabezón’s talk reflects his current research project on the Sera monastery, where Dr. Cabezón lived and studied from 1980 until 1985. Since then, Dr. Cabezón has been collecting materials for this new endeavor. In the early 2000’s, Dr. Cabezón returned to the Sera Monastery with his photographer. Pieces of his research project are posted on seramonastery.org. Additionally, Dr. Cabezón has two forthcoming books, Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism and a translation of Mipam’s Treatise on Royal Ethics.

Despite the Spring Break, Dr. Cabezón’s lecture was well-attended. Students, faculty, and the larger Columbia community remained thoroughly engaged in Dr. Cabezón’s talk and asked thoughtful and insightful questions.