Tibetan

Filed Under: Adjunct, Tibet, Tibetan

Elena Pakhoutova

Adjunct Lecturer of Tibetan Art

Office: 401 Kent Hall
Office Hours: M 4-5 PM
Email: ep3329@columbia.edu

Educational Background

PhD: University of Virginia (Art History)
MA: University of Virginia (Art History)

University Diploma (MA/BA History and Historical Archival Research): Russian State University for Humanities, Moscow, Russia

Courses Taught

HSEA GU 4725 Tibetan Art and Material Culture

Area of Study

Buddhist Art, Indian Art, Tibetan Art, Cross-cultural exchanges in Inner Asia; Historical and Contemporary Himalayan Art 

Research Interests

Dr. Pakhoutova is Senior Curator, Himalayan Art at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. She has taught at University of Virginia and the Eugene Lang College, New School, New York. 

Her background in Tibetan Buddhist studies informs her interdisciplinary interests in Buddhist art and ritual, art production and patronage, material culture, narrative in Tibetan visual culture, and contemporary Himalayan art. 

She curated several thematic exhibitions that introduce and contextualize Tibetan and Himalayan art, including Death Is Not the End (2023), The Power of Intention: Reinventing the (Prayer) Wheel (2019).

Most recently, the ongoing traveling exhibition Gateway to Himalayan Art is an integral component of Project Himalayan Art which she co-leads with Dr. Karl Debreczeny.

Selected Publications

Himalayan Art in 108 Objects, ed. (with Karl Debreczeny). Scala and Rubin Museum of Art, 2023.

“For One and or for Many: Affluent and Common Patronage of Narrative Art in Tibet.” Material Religion 2021: vol. 17, no. 1

The Second Buddha: Master of Time, ed. The Rubin Museum, The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery, and Delmonico Prestel, 2018

The All-Knowing Buddha: A Secret Guide (with Karl Debreczeny, Christian Luczanits, and Jan van Alphen). Antwerp: Museum Aan de Stroom. MAS: 2014.

“A Wondrous Great Accomplishment: a Painting of an Event.” PIATS 2010: Proceedings of the Twelfth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Vancouver, 2010. Asianart.com (2012)

by

Sonam Tsering

Sonam_Profile_Picture_sm

Sonam Tsering

Senior Lecturer in Tibetan, Director of the Tibetan Language Program

Office: 502-A Kent Hall
Office Hours: T 2:30-5 PM
Phone: (212) 854-0596
Email: st2931@columbia.edu

Educational Background

BA: Social Anthropology, University of London

Classes Taught

TIBT UN1600 First Year Modern Colloquial Tibetan I
TIBT UN1601 First Year Modern Tibetan II
TIBT UN2603 Second Year Modern Colloquial Tibetan I
TIBT UN2604 Second Year Modern Tibetan II
TIBT UN3611 Third Year Modern Colloquial Tibetan I
TIBT UN3612 Third Year Modern Tibetan II

Research Interests

Tibetan Language

Sonam Tsering is the director of the Tibetan language program at Columbia. Sonam previously taught at the University of Michigan, where he also remotely taught students at Yale and Ohio State University, via live video technology. Originally from Rebgong (Qinghai, PRC), Sonam later lived in the Tibetan community in exile in India, founding and editing Bod kyi Dus bab (Tibet Times newspaper).

Online publications

Introduction” for the English Translation of The Division of Heaven and Earth – on the peaceful revolution of the Earth Rat year by Shokdung, Xining (unpublished yet, 2008)
“The Historical Polity of Repgong” (The Tibetan and Himalayan Library, 2011) http://places.thlib.org/features/23751/descriptions/1225
Translation: Clear Sky and Red Earth – A Himalayan Story by Sienna Craig, Illustrations by Tenzin Norbu, (Mera Publications, 2004)
“Ipolito Desideri” (Latse Library Newsletter, 2004)
“La dwags kyi ag bar and its background” (Latse Library Newsletter, 2005)
New York Regular contribution to Nyenchen Thanglha, Nor Od, Tibetan Review, Mangtso and Tibet Times, Dharamasala, India 1987 – 1993
Numerous Articles in Qinghai Zangwen Bao (Qinghai Tibetan Language Newspaper), Qinghai Fazhi Bao (Qinghai Law Magazine), Xining, PRC

Sonam Tsering Ngulphu

Sonam Tsering Ngulphu

Lecturer in Tibetan

Office: 502-G Kent Hall

Office Hours: By appointment
Email: st2855@columbia.edu

Educational Background

PhD: Columbia University
MTS: Harvard University
MA: Central University for Tibetan Studies

Classes Taught 

TIBTW UN1410 First Year Classical Tibetan I

TIBTW UN1411 First Year Classical Tibetan II

TIBTW UN2412 Second Year Classical Tibetan I

TIBTW UN2413 Second Year Classical Tibetan II

TIBTW UN2710 Advanced Literary Tibetan I

TIBTW UN2711 Advanced Literary Tibetan II

Research Interests

Tibetan Studies, Religion, and Buddhist Studies

Sonam Tsering Ngulphu has taught topics on religion, Buddhist philosophy, and Tibetan language and literature at monasteries and modern educational institutions in India and the US. He had previously worked as the managing editor of Tibet Journal, an academic quarterly on Tibetan studies, where he also co-edited thematic series on Tibet and British Raj, Tibetan monuments, and a fourteen-issue history of Tibetan art.

Sonam’s doctoral dissertation examined the eighteen-volume Collected Works of Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) to assess the role of the texts in the formation of Geluk School in Tibet during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It studied the significant roles that Je Tsongkhapa’s writings have played in establishing doctrinal authority, defining philosophical boundaries, postulating intellectual identity, and reorienting monastic education for Tibet’s largest school of thought and philosophy.

Trained in several languages, Sonam specializes in translation and interpretation with a focus on classical Tibetan Buddhist texts.

Selected Publications

Precious Garland: Buddhist Polity on Life and Liberation (Rājaparikathāratnāvali, Trans & Annot. LTWA, 2014)

Verses of Naga King Drum (Nāgarājabherīgāthā, Trans. 8400, 2020)

Select Biographies, The Treasury of Lives: Biographical Encyclopedia of Tibet, Inner Asia, and the Himalayas. ‘Select Biographies’ include entries published with the National Endowment of Humanities (NEH) Grant (New York: Treasury of Lives, 2018–2023).  See https://treasuryoflives.org/search/by_author/.-Sonam-Tsering-Ngulphu [Entries 14th–21st Century]: Horkhang Sonam Pelbar (1919–1994); The Third Penor, Lekshe Chokyi Drayang (1932–2009); Karma Chopel (1930–1999); The Third Belmang, Jamyang Tenzin Gyatso (1854–1919); The Fourth Belmang, Jigme Tsultrim Namgyel (1918/1920–1957);  The Sixth Ling Rinpoche, Thupten Lungtok Namgyal Trinley (1903–1983); Dondrub Rinchen (1309–1385); Khyenrab Norbu (1883–1962); Lobzang Wanggyel (1920–2003); Pawo Wangchuk Tengpa Lobzang Nyima (1895?–1964); Śākya Yeshe (1354–1435); Takla Norbu (1889–1958); Tenzin Chodrak (1924–2001); Tubten Lhundrub (1906–1955); and Umapa Tsondru Sengge (14th–15th cent.).

Tibet Journal (Managing Editor, 2001–2004)

Tshan rig dus deb (Assistant Editor, 2001–2003)

Tibet Journal (A Quarterly Academic Journal on Tibet Studies), Managing Editor, Vol. 26, No. iii & iv–Vol. 29, No. iv (Dharamsala: LTWA, 2001–2004).

Tshan rig dus deb (A Science Journal for Monks), Assistant Editor, Vol. 1– Vol. 6 (Dharamsala: LTWA, 2001–2003).