Download CULTURAL HISTORY OF TIBET AND THE HIMALAYAS COURSE

CULTURAL HISTORY OF TIBET AND THE HIMALAYAS
The Himalayan range has since antiquity been marked by ongoing encounters between
people from the lowland plains of India in the south and the highland plateaus of Tibet in
the north. These historic encounters and their salience to today’s lived traditions are
visible foremost in the region’s diverse material cultural heritage. This course explores
the cultural complexity of the Himalayan range through investigations of key sites –
urban centers, temples, monasteries, reliquaries, shrines, rivers, mountains, caves etc. –
within the Kathmandu valley and the broader region that have historically served as focal
points of interaction for the region’s diverse population. With these material cultural sites
as our point of departure, we will explore the formation of the dominant cultural and
ethnic groups represented in the Valley – Newari, Tibetan and Tibetan-oid, non-Newari
caste Hindu, etc. – and their relations with one another and other groups within and
beyond the Himalayas.
While foregrounding the region’s cultural and religious diversity and eclecticism, topics
will include the formation and interaction of Hindusim and Buddhism in the Himalayas,
highland migration, orientations toward sacred cityscape and landscape, temple and
monastery architecture, divine kingship, ritual practice, relics and reliquaries, and sacred
statuary and images, among others. Each set of topics will be introduced by site visits,
where faculty in collaboration with local experts will orient students to the cultural
expressions under investigation, with a secondary focus on the effects of modernization
and urban development on traditional modes of interacting with these sites. Course
readings, lectures and discussions will encourage students to observe how religious
activities enacted at these locations connect with broader issues in the domains of
politics, economics, environmentalism, etc.
Class activities will center on lectures, group discussions of assigned readings and multimedia presentations on select topics. Assignments will include a series of short reflection
papers (50%), an individual presentation done in collaboration with local partners about a
select site or cultural expression (25%), and a related final essay (25%). Students will be
encouraged to select topics that will contribute to their final integrative projects.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
ORIENTATION (Aug 29-31)
1. Nepal’s Recent Past
Readings
Required readings:
•
Chitrakar, Anil. “Karma and Fatalism” in Take The Lead: Nepal’s Future Has
Begun. Kathmandu, Nepal: Kathalaya Publications, 2013. 43-54.
•
Toffin, Gérard, From Monarchy to Republic: Essays on Changing Nepal.
Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2013, selections.
Optional further readings:
•
Dixit, Kunda. People After War: Nepalis Live with Legacy of Conflict.
Kathmandu, Nepal: Publication Nepa-Laya, 2009.
•
Whelpton, John. A History of Nepal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2005.
2. Introduction to the Himalayan Geo-Cultural Zones of Kashmir, Nepal, Tibet
Readings
Required readings:
•
Berreman, Gerald, “Cultures and Peoples of the Himalayas,” Asia Survey (1963):
289-304.
•
Lewis, Todd Thornton. “Himalayan Religions in Comparative Perspective:
Considerations Regarding Buddhism and Hinduism across their Indic Frontiers.”
Himalayan Research Bulletin 14,1-2 (1994): 25-46.
Optional further readings:
•
Samuel, Geoffrey. “Tibet and the Southeast Asian Highlands: Rethinking the
Intellectual Context of Tibetan Studies.” in Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the
6th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Fagernes 1992. 2
vols. Oslo, Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture. ed. Kvaerne. P.
1994, 2: 696-710.
•
Zurick, David and Pulsun Pacheco. Illustrated Atlas of the Himalayas.
WEEK #1 (Sept 1-6): HINDUISM: OVERVIEW OF CENTRAL
CONCEPTS AND PRACTICES
1. TUESDAY (9/1/2015)
CONCEPTS: divinity, dharma, karma, saṃsāra, caste
Readings
Required readings:
•
Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1996, introduction and chapters 1-3, pp. 1-74.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Chakravarti, Sitansu S. Hinduism: A Way of Life. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1991, pp. 23-43.
•
Selections from the Veda, including Ṛg Veda 1.1, 10.90, 10.128; and Atharva
Veda 2.19-20.
•
Kinsley, David. Hinduism: A Cultural Perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 1993, 84-96.
2. THURSDAY (9/3/2015)
PRACTICES: pūjā, mūrti, prasād, renunciation and asceticism
Readings
Required readings:
•
Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. Chapter 4, pp. 75-102.
•
Hawley, J. S. and Vasudha Narayana, “Introduction” in Hawley and Narayanan,
eds., The Life of Hinduism, 1-16.
•
Huyler, Stephen. “The Experience: Approaching God,” in Hawley and
Narayanan, eds., The Life of Hinduism, 33-41.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Burghart, Richard, “Renunciation in the Religious Traditions of South Asia,” in
Man (N.S.), vol. 18, 4 (1983): 635-653.
•
Samuel, Geoffrey. The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the
Thirteenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 173-190.
WEEK #2 (Sept 7-13): HINDUISM IN NEPAL AND THE
HIMALAYAS
1. TUESDAY (9/8/2015)
GENERAL PATTERNS
Readings
Required readings:
•
Hausner, Susan L. Wandering With Sadhus: Ascetics in the Hindu Himalayas.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007, selections.
•
Van Kooij, K. R. Religion in Nepal, 1-18.
•
Witzel, Michael. “On the History and the Present State of Vedic Tradition in
Nepal.” Vasudha vol. 15, no. 12 (1976): 17-24, 35-39.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Berreman, Gerald D. Hindus of the Himalayas: Ethnography and Change.
Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972.
•
Bouillier, Véronique, “The Ambiguous Position of Renunciants in Nepal:
Interrelation of Asceticism and the Social Order,” in Journal of the Nepal
Research Centre, vol. 7 (first published in French, in L'Ethnographie, 1979)
(1985): 199-229.
•
Michaels, Axel. “The king and cow: on a crucial symbol of Hinduization in
Nepal. In: David N. Gellner, Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka and John Whelpton (eds.),
Nationalism and ethnicity in a Hindu kingdom: the politics of culture in
contemporary Nepal, pp. 79-99. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers,
1997.
1. THURSDAY (9/10/2015)
PASHUPATINATH
Readings
Required readings:
•
Hausner, Susan L. Wandering With Sadhus: Ascetics in the Hindu Himalayas.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2007, selections.
•
Hausner, Sondra L. “Pashupatinath at the end of the Hindu state.” Studies in
Nepali History and Society 12,1 (2007): 119-140.
WEEK #3 (Sept 14-20): NEWAR CULTURE AND HISTORY
LALITPUR (PATAN) AND BHAKTAPUR
1. TUESDAY (9/15/2015)
LALITPUR
Readings
Required readings:
•
Hagmueller, Goetz. “Introduction” in Patan Museum: The Transformation of a
Royal Palace in Nepal. London: Serindia, 2001.
http://www.asianart.com/associations/patan-museum/report/page1.html.
•
Gellner, David N. “A Sketch of the History of Lalitpur (Patan) with Special
Reference to Buddhism.” Contributions to Nepalese Studies 23,1 (1996): 125157.
•
Pradhan, Riddhi. “Historical Background of the Kathmandu World Heritage Sites
with Special Reference to Patan Monument Zone.” Ancient Nepal 139 (1996): 4959.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Dowman, Keith. “A Buddhist Guide to the Power Places of the Kathmandu
Valley.” Kailash 9, nos. 3–4 (1982): 183–291.
•
Locke, John. “Karunamaya: The Cult of Avalokitesvara – Matsyendranath in the
Valley of Nepal. In The Principal Rites of the Vajracaryas. Kathmandu: Sahayogi
Prakashan, 1980, pp. 67-121.
•
Regmi, Rishikeshab Raj. Kathmandu, Patan & Bhaktapur: An Archaeological
Anthropology of the Royal Cities of the Kathmandu Valley. Jaipur: Nirala, 1993.
•
Slusser, Mary Shepherd. Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu
Valley. 2 Vols. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1982.
2. THURSDAY (9/17/2015)
BHAKTAPUR
Required readings:
•
Grieve, Gregory Price. “Signs of tradition: compiling a history of development,
politics, and tourism in Bhaktapur, Nepal.” Studies in Nepali History and Society
7,2 (2002): 281-307.
•
Levy, Robert I. Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional
Newar City in Nepal. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992, pp. 34-53.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Goodman, Jim. Tales of Old Bhaktapur. New Delhi: Tiwari's Pilgrims Book
House, 1992, selections.
•
Grieve, Gregory Price. Retheorizing religion in Nepal. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2006, selections.
•
Grieve, Gregory Price. “Cosmological corrections: mapping the ideological
construction of traditional places in Bhaktapur, Nepal.” Studies in Nepali History
and Society 9, 2 (2004): 375-406.
•
Slusser, Mary Shepherd. Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu
Valley. 2 Vols. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1982, selections.
WEEK #4 (Sept 21-Sept 27): BUDDHISM IN NEPAL
1. TUESDAY (9/22/2015)
THE GROWTH AND SPREAD OF MAHĀYĀNA AND VAJRAYĀNA BUDDHISM
Readings
Required readings:
•
Blum, Mark. “Mahayana Buddhism” from Kevin Trainor, ed. Buddhism: The
Illustrated Guide. NY: Oxford University Press, 2004.
•
Lewis, Todd. “Forward, Introduction and Chapter 1.” In Popular Buddhist Texts
from Nepal. Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism. Albany: SUNY, 2000,
pp. ix-20.
•
Samuel, Geoffrey. The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the
Thirteenth Century. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 193-228.
•
Schopen, Gregory. “Mahayana” in Robert Buswell, ed. The Encyclopedia of
Buddhism. NY: Macmillan, 2004, pp. 492-499.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Snellgrove, David. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala, 1987.
2. THURSDAY (9/24/2015)
HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN NEPAL
Required readings:
•
Gellner, David N. Monk, Householder and Tantric Priest: Newar Buddhism and
Its Hierarchy of Ritual. Cambridge University Press, 1992, selections.
•
Lienhard, Siegfried. “Nepal: The Survival of Indian Buddhism in a Himalayan
Kingdom.” In The World of Buddhism, ed. Heinz Bechert and Richard F.
Gombrich, pp. 108-114. New York: Facts on File, 1984.
•
Locke, John K. “Unique Features of Newari Buddhism.” In The Buddhist
Heritage, ed. T. Skorupski. Tring: The Institute of Buddhist Studies (1989), pp.
71-116.
•
Riccardi, Theodore, Jr. “Buddhism in Ancient and Early Medieval Nepal.” In
Studies in the History of Buddhism, ed. A.K. Narain. New Delhi: B. R.
Publishing, 1980.
•
von Rospatt, Alexander. “The Survival of Mahāyāna Buddhism in Nepal. A Fresh
Appraisal.” In Buddhismus in Geschichte und Gegenwart, vol. 5, Hamburg:
Universität Hamburg (Weiterbildendes Studium), 2001, pp. 167-189.
(downloadable at http://www.buddhismuskunde.uni-hamburg.de/Volume6.48.0.html?&L=1)
Optional Further Readings
•
Levine, Sarah and David N. Gellner. Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada
Movement in Twentieth-Century Nepal. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan, 2008,
selections.
•
Lewis, Todd. “Religious Belief in a Buddhist Merchant Community, Nepal.”
Asian Folklore Studies vol. 55, no. 2 (1996): 237-270.
•
Novak, Charles M. (1992). “A Portrait of Buddhism in Licchavi Nepal,”
Buddhist Himalaya: A Journal of Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods
(Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods) 4 (1, 2). Retrieved 20 March 2014.
•
Tuladhar-Douglas, Will. Remaking Buddhism for Medieval Nepal: The Fifteenthcentury Reformation of Newar Buddhism, 2006, selections.
WEEK #5 (Sept 28-Oct 4): HINDU-BUDDHIST INTERACTION AND
ECLECTICISM: TANTRIC CULTURE
1. TUESDAY (9/29/2015)
GENERAL PATTERNS
Readings
Required readings:
•
White, David Gordon, “Introduction,” in Tantra in Practice. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 2000, pp. 1-37.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Samuel, Geoffrey. The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the
Thirteenth Century. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 229-270.
•
Sferra, Franceso, “Some considerations on the relationship between Hindu and
Buddhist Tantras,” in Buddhist Asia 1, Papers from the First Conference of
Buddhist Studies Held in Naples in May 2001, pp. 57-84.
•
Wedemeyer, Christian. Making Sense of Tantric Buddhism: History, Semiology,
and Transgression in the Indian Traditions. New York: Columbia University
Press, 2013.
1. THURSDAY (10/01/2015)
TANTRA IN NEPAL
Readings
Required readings:
•
Allen, Michael. “Buddhism without Monks: The Vajrayana religion of the
Newars of Kathmandu Valley.” Journal of South Asian Studies 3, no. 1 (1973): 1–
14.
•
Locke, John K. “The Vajrayana Buddhism in the Kathmandu Valley.” In The
Buddhist Heritage of Nepal, ed. John K. Locke. Kathmandu, Nepal: Dharmodaya
Sabba, 1986, pp. 43-72.
•
Levy, Robert I. “Chapter Nine: Tantrism and the Worship of Dangerous Deities,”
in Mesocosm: Hinduism and the Organization of a Traditional Newar City in
Nepal. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1992, pp. 294-340.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Owens, Bruce McCoy. “Blood and Bodhisattvas: Sacrifice among the Newar
Buddhists of Nepal.” In Proceedings of the International Seminar on the
Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalaya, September 21-28 1990 at the
Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zürich, edited by Charles Ramble and
Martin Brauen, pp. 258-69. Zürich: Ethnological Museum of the University of
Zürich, 1993.
WEEK #6 (Oct 5-Oct 11): DIVINE KINGSHIP
1. TUESDAY (10/07/2015)
GENERAL PATTERNS
Readings
Required readings:
•
Heesterman, J.C. “The Conundrum of the King’s Authority.” In The Inner
Conflict of Tradition: Essays in Indian Kingship, Ritual and Society. Chicago:
Chicago University Press, 1985, pp. 108-127.
•
Inden, Ronald. “Ritual, Authority and Cyclic Time in Hindu Kingship.” In
Kingship and Authority in South Asia. Edited by J.F. Richards. Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1978, pp. 28-73.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Gonda, J. Ancient Indian Kindship From the Religious Point of View. Leiden (The
Netherlands): E.J. Brill, 1966.
•
Lidke, Jeff. Vishvarupa Mandir: a study of Changu Narayan, Nepal’s most
ancient temple, New Delhi: Nirala Publications, 1996.
•
Slusser, Mary S. Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley.
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
2. THURSDAY (10/09/2015)
KINGSHIP IN NEPAL
Readings
Required readings:
•
Bouillier, Véronique. “The King and his Yogi: Prithvi Narayan Shah,
Bhagavantanath and the Unification of Nepal in the Eighteenth Century”, in J. P.
Nelsen (éd.), Gender, caste and power in South Asia: Social status and mobility in
a transitional society, New Delhi, Manohar, 1991, pp. 3-21.
•
Slusser, Mary Shepherd. “Lord Vishnu and the kings of Nepal.” Asian Art and
Culture 9,3 (1996): 9-
•
Tanigawa, Masayuki. “The rationale for the kingship in Nepal.” Nepali Political
Science and Politics 5 (1996): 29-38.
•
Toffin, Gérard “The Indra Jatra of Kathmandu as a Royal Festival: Past and
Present,” Contributions to Nepalese Studies 19/1 (1992): 73-92.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Sax, William S. “Divine kingship in the Western Himalayas.” European Bulletin
of Himalayan Research 29-30 (2006): 7-13.
•
Witzel, Michael. “The Coronation Rituals of Nepal: With Special Reference to
the Coronation of King Birendra.” In Niels Gutschow and Axel Michaels (eds.)
Heritage of the Kathmandu Valley. Sankt Augustin: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag,
1987.
WEEK #7 (Oct 12-18): HIGHLAND MIGRATIONS AND
INTERACTIONS I
1. TUESDAY (10/13/2015)
GENERAL PATTERNS
Readings
Required readings:
•
Childs, Geoff. “Trans-Himalayan Migrations as Processes, not Events: Towards a
Theoretical Perspective.” Pp. 11-32. In Origins and Migrations in the Extended
Eastern Himalayas, eds. Toni Huber and Stuart Blackburn, Boston and Leiden:
Brill, 2012.
•
Childs, Geoff. “Refuge and Revitalization: Hidden Himalayan Sanctuaries (Sbasyul) and the Preservation of Tibet’s Imperial Lineages.” Acta Orientalia 60
(1999): 126-158.
•
MacDonald, A. W. “Hindu-isation, Buddha-isation, then Lama-isation or: What
Happened at La-phyi?" in Indo-Tibetan Studies: Papers in Honour and
Appreciation of Professor David L. Snellgrove’s Contribution to Indo-Tibetan
Studies, edited by T. Skorupski. Tring, Eng.: Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1990,
pp. 199-208.
2. THURSDAY (10/15/2015)
HIGHLAND HISTORIES
Readings
Required readings:
•
Clarke, Graham E. “A Helambu History.” Journal of the Nepal Research Centre
4,1 (1980): 1-38.
•
Macdonald, A.W. “The Coming of Buddhism to the Sherpa Area of Nepal.” Acta
Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 34,1-3 (1980): 139-146.
•
Macdonald, A.W. “The Writing of Buddhist History in the Sherpa Area of
Nepal.” In: A. D. Narain (ed.), Studies in the History of Buddhism, pp. ?? New
Delhi: B. R. Publishing, 1980.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Tautscher, Gabriele. Himalayan Mountain Cults: Sailung, Kalingchok, and
Gosainkund – Territorial Rituals and Tamang Histories. Kathmandu: Vajra
Publications, 2007.
WEEK #8 (Oct 19-25): HIGHLAND MIGRATIONS AND
INTERACTIONS II
1. TUESDAY (10/20/2015)
YOGIS AND SCORCERERS ACROSS FRONTEIRS I
Readings
Required readings:
•
Ehrhard, F-K. “The Role of ‘Treasure Discoverers’ and Their Writings in the
Search for Himalayan Sacred Lands.” Tibet Journal. Special Edition: Powerful
Places and Spaces in Tibetan Religious Culture 19, 3 (1994): 3-20.
•
Tsogyal, Yeshe. The Lotus-Born: The life Story of Padmasambhava. Boston:
Shambhala Dragon Editions, 1993.
2. THURSDAY (10/22/2015)
YOGIS AND SCORCERERS ACROSS FRONTEIRS II
Readings
Required readings:
•
Tsangnyon Heruka, Life of Milarepa. trans. Andrew Quintman. London: Penguin
Books, 2010.
WEEK #9 (Oct 26-Nov 1): BUDDHIST SACRA
1. TUESDAY (10/27/2015)
RELIC AND STŪPA
Readings
Required readings:
•
“Brief History of the Stupa,” in History of Great Stupa Jarung Khashor.
Kathmandu: Samtenling Monastery, 2005. 83–94.
•
Dowman, Keith. “Boudhanath” in A Buddhist Guide to the Power Places of the
Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2007, pp. 55–59.
•
Lewis, Todd. “Stūpas and Spouses.” In Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal:
Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism. Albany: SUNY, 2000, 21-48.
•
Maitland, Padme Dorje. “A Structure for Veneration.” In Light of the Valley:
Renewing the Sacred Art and Traditions of Svayambhu. Edited by Tsering Palmo
Gellek and Padme Dorje Maitland. Cazadero, CA: Dharma Publishing, 2011. 24–
31.
•
von Rospatt, Alexander “The Sacred Origins of the Svayambhūcaitya and the
Nepal Valley: Foreign Speculation and Local Myth.” Journal of the Nepal
Research Centre vol. 13. Kathmandu: Nepal Research Centre 2009, pp.33-91.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Gutshow, Neils. The Nepalese Caitya: 500 years of Buddhist votive architecture
in the Kathmandu Valley. Stuttgart: Axel Menges, 1997.
•
Martin, Dan. “Crystals and Images from Bodies, Hearts and Tongues from Fire:
Points of Relic Controversy from Tibetan History.” In Tibetan Studies:
Proceedings of the 5th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan
Studies. Edited by Ihara and Yamaguchi. Narita: Naritasan Shinshoji, 1989.
•
Strong, John. Relics of the Buddha. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004,
selections.
•
Trainer, Kevin. Relics, Ritual and Representation. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997.
•
von Rospatt, Alexander. “On the Conception of the Stūpa in Vajrayāna
Buddhism: The example of the Svayambhucaitya of Kathmandu.” Journal of the
Nepal Research Society 11 (1999): 121–147.
2. THURSDAY (10/29/2015)
IMAGE
Readings
Required readings:
•
Eckel, David. “The Power of the Buddha’s Absence: On the Foundations of
Mahayana Buddhist Ritual.” Journal of Ritual Studies 4/2 (1990): 61-95.
•
Gombrich, Richard. “The Consecration of a Buddha Image.” Journal of Asian
Studies 26/1 (1966): 23-36.
•
Hutt, Michael. Nepal: A Guide to the Art and Architecture of the Kathmandu
Valley. Boston: Shambhala, 1994, selections.
•
Lancaster, Lewis. “An Early Mahayana Sermon about the Body of the Buddha
and the Making of Images.” Artibus Asiae 16 (1974): 287-291.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Fisher, Robert E. The Art of Tibet. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
WEEK #10 (Nov 2-Nov 8): WOMEN AND GODDESSES IN
HIMALAYAN RELIGIONS
1. TUESDAY (11/03/2015)
NUNS, MASTERS AND CONSORTS
Readings
Required readings:
•
Changchub, Gyalwa and Namkhi Nyingpo. Lady of the Lotus-Born: The Life and
Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal. Trans. by the Padmakara Translation Group.
Boulder, CO and London: Shambhala Publications, 1999, selections.
•
Gutschow, Kim. Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the
Himalayas. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004, selections.
•
Schaeffer, Kurtis. Himalayan Hermitess: The Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Nun.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, selections.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Germano, David and Gyatso, Janet. “Longchenpa and the Possession of the
Dākinīs.” In Tantra in Practice. Ed. David Gordon White. Princeton University
Press, pp. 241-265.
•
Klein, Anne C. Meeting the Great Bliss Queen: Buddhism, Feminism, and the Art
of Self. Boston: Beacon Press, 1995.
•
Tsomo, Karma Lekshe. Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic
Ethics for Women. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1997.
•
Willis, Janice, ed. Feminine Ground: Essays on Women and Tibet. Ithaca, NY:
Snow Lion Publications, 1987.
•
Young, Serinity. Courtesans and Tantric Consorts. New York and London:
Routledge, 2004.
2. THURSDAY (11/05/2015)
GODDESSES OF THE VALLEY
Readings
Required readings:
•
Beyer, Stephen V. The Cult of Tārā: Magic and Ritual in Tibet. Hermeneutics,
Studies in The History of Religions No.1. Berkeley: University of California
Press, selections, 1978, selections.
•
Bledsoe, Bronwen. An Advertised Secret: The Goddess Taleju and the King of
Kathmandu. In ed. David G. White, Tantra in Practice, 2000, pp. 195-205.
•
English, Elizabeth. Vajrayoginī: her visualizations, rituals & forms. A study of the
cult of Vajrayoginī in India. Wisdom Publications, 2002, selections.
•
Pfaff-Czarnecka, Joanna. “The battle of meanings: commemorating the goddess
Durga's victory over the demon Mahisa as a political act.” Kailash 18,3-4 (1996):
57-92.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Kinsley, David. Tantric Visions of The Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahāvidyās,
1997.
•
Mitra, Mallar. “Goddess Vajravarahi: An Iconographical Study.” In Tantric
Buddhism: Centennial Tribute to Dr. Benoytosh Bhattacharyya. Ed. by N. N
Bhattacharyya and A. Ghosh. pp. 102-29. New Delhi: Manohar, 1999.
•
Pfaff-Czarnecka, Joanna. “The Nepalese Durga-Puja Festival or Displaying
Military Supremacy on Ritual Occasions.” In Charles Ramble and Martin Brauen
(eds.), Proceedings of the International Seminar on the Anthropology of Tibet and
the Himalaya, pp. 270-286. Zürich: Völkerkundemuseum der Universität, 1993.
•
Shakya, Rashmila. From Goddess to Mortal: The True-Life Story of a Former
Royal Kumari. Kathmandu: Vajra Publications, 2007.
•
van der Hoek, Bert and Balgopal Shrestha, “Guardians of the Royal Goddess:
Kumār and Daitya as Protectors of Taleju Bhavāni of Kathmandu,” Contributions
to Nepalese Studies 19.2 (1992): 193-122.
WEEK #11 (Nov 9-15): CULTURAL HISTORY OF TIBET I
1. TUESDAY (11/10/2015)
ANCIENT TIBET UNTIL 1100
Readings
Required readings:
•
Kapstein, Matthew. The Tibetans. Malden MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. pp
27-83.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Dudjom Rinpoche, Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje. The Nyingma School of Tibetan
Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History. Translated and edited by Gyurme Dorje
and M. Kapstein. 2 vols. Boston, Wisdom, 1991.
•
Shakabpa, Tsepon W.D. One Hundred Moons: An Advanced Political History of
Tibet, trans. Derek F. Maher. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2010.
•
Stein, R.A. Tibetan Civilisation. London: Faber and Faber, 1972.
•
Van Schaik, Sam. Tibet: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
2. THURSDAY (11/12/2015)
MEDIEVAL TIBET UNTIL 1100 CE TO 1600 CE
Readings
Required readings:
•
Brauen, Martin ed. The Dalai Lamas: A Visual History, ed. Martin. Chicago:
Serindia Publications, 2005, selections.
•
Kapstein, Matthew. The Tibetans, pp. 84-139.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Dreyfus, Georges B.J. The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a
Tibetan Buddhist Monk. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003.
•
Samuel, Geoffrey, Introducing Tibetan Buddhism. London and New York:
Routledge, 2012.
•
Snellgrove, David and H. Richardson. A Cultural History of Tibet. Boulder:
Prajna, 1980.
•
Van Schaik, Sam. Tibet: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
WEEK #12 (Nov 16-Nov 22): CULTURAL HISTORY OF TIBET II
1. TUESDAY (11/17/2015)
1600 TO THE MODERN PERIOD
Readings
Required readings:
•
Kapstein, Matthew. The Tibetans, pp. 140-174 and 269-300.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Goldstein, Melvyn. A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 1: The Demise of the
Lamaist State, 1913-1951. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989.
•
Goldstein, Melvyn. A History of Modern Tibet, Volume 2: The Calm before the
Storm, 1951-1955. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
•
Shakya, Tsering. Dragon in the Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947.
New York: Random House, 2012.
•
Van Schaik, Sam. Tibet: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
2. THURSDAY (11/19/2015)
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Readings
Required readings:
•
Dreyfus, Georges. “The Shuk-Den Affair: Origins of a Controversy.” Journal of
the International Association of Buddhist Studies 21, 2 (1998): 227-270.
•
Sperling, Elliot, “The Tibet-China Conflict: History and Polemics,” East-West
Center Washington: Policy Studies 7 (2004).
http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmin/stored/pdfs/PS007.pdf.
•
Tibetan Policy Institute. “Why is Tibet Burning?” Central Tibetan Administration
(2013). http://tibet.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Whitepaper-Final-PDF.pdf.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Barnett, Robert (ed.). Resistance and Reform in Tibet. New Delhi: Motilal
Banarsidass Publishers, 1994.
•
Van Schaik, Sam. Tibet: A History, pp. 290-329.
WEEK #13 AND #14 (Nov 23-Dec 6)
TRADITIONS AND TRANSITIONS AMONG THE SHERPA
Readings
Required readings:
•
Adams, Vincanne. “Dreams of a Final Sherpa.” American Anthropologist, New
Series, Vol. 99, No. 1. (Mar., 1997): 85-98.
•
Ortner, Sherry. Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan
Mountaineering. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Adams, Vincanne. Tigers of the Snow and Other Virtual Sherpas: An
Ethnography of Himalayan Encounters. Princeton, NJ: Princeton, 1996.
•
Fürer-Haimendorf, Christoph von. The Sherpas of Nepal: Buddhist Highlanders.
London: John Murray, 1964.
•
Fürer-Haimendorf, Christoph von. The Sherpas Transformed. New Delhi: Sterling
Publishers, 1984.
•
Samuel, Geoffrey. “Religion in Tibetan Society: A New Approach. Part Two: The
Sherpas of Nepal: A Case Study.” Kailash (1978): 99-114.
WEEK #15 (Dec 7-Dec 13): GLOBAL TRANSACTIONS
1. TUESDAY (12/08/2015)
NEGOTIATING BORDERS
Readings
Required readings:
•
Harris, Tina. Geological Diversions: Tibetan Trade, Global Transactions. Athens,
Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 2013, selections.
Optional Further Readings:
•
Bauer, Kenneth. High Frontiers: Dolpo and the Changing World of Himalayan
Pastoralists. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
•
Shneiderman, Sarah. “Swapping Identities: Borderland Exchanges along the
Nepal-TAR Border.” Himal Southasian 18(3): 32-33.
2. THURSDAY (12/10/2015)
NEGOTIATION IDENTITIES
Readings
Required readings:
•
Moran, Peter. “Commodities and the aura of the other.” In Buddhism Observed:
Travelers, exiles and Tibetan Dharma in Kathmandu. London and New York:
RoutledgeCurzon, pp. 34-57.
•
Toffin, Gérard, From Monarchy to Republic: Essays on Changing Nepal.
Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2013, selections