International Seminar of Young Tibetologists
Lead Research Organisation:
School of Oriental and African Studies
Department Name: Lang and Culture of China and Inner Asia
Abstract
With AHRC Research Workshops Scheme support, I propose to convene the first conference of the International Seminar of Young Tibetologists (ISYT), and lay its foundations as a sustainable international research association. This conference, and the creation of the ISYT, comes at a particularly opportune moment in the field of Tibetan studies. By providing a venue for collaboration and exchange for early-career researchers and postgraduate students, the ISYT addresses a crucial need in Tibetan studies.
Tibetan studies is a growing academic field. Traditionally the preserve of textual scholars and scholars of Buddhism, the shape of the field has recently changed. This is due in large part to China's opening of Tibet to outsiders in the late 1980s, which made it possible to for researchers apply more anthropological, cultural and economic approaches to Tibetan studies. With this access came a greater emphasis on knowledge of spoken Tibetan, and co-operation with Tibetan collaborators and informants. In concert with these developments, the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS), the field's premier research association, grew up from a group of thirty or so scholars to become a massive international research association with hundreds of members.
The result is twofold: firstly, the IATS Seminars, held every three years, are now massively oversubscribed; and secondly, a generation gap has emerged between the older generation of scholars, whose work was necessarily text-based, and the younger generation, who tend to research extensively in Tibet and China and often focus on more contemporary issues. Not only will the ISYT address these problems, it will create a sustainable research network that will complement the IATS.
By convening a conference specifically intended for early-career researchers and postgraduate students, the ISYT will significantly relieve the pressure the IATS Seminars now face due to oversubscription. More importantly, it will offer the younger generation of Tibetan studies researchers a novel, independent platform for sharing their research and networking with like-minded scholars.
The first conference of the ISYT will be convened 2-6 August 2007 at Wolfson College, Oxford. I proposed this location at a meeting of postgraduates and early-career researchers at the 11th Seminar of the IATS in Bonn in late August 2006, where it was met with unanimous approval. This is due not only to its central location relative to European, Tibetan, Chinese and North American scholars, but also to Oxford's status as a major centre for Tibetan studies with over a dozen postgraduates engaged in Tibet-related research.
To facilitate communication about the ISYT conference between the informal membership that already exists, and to post announcements regarding the conference, a web-designer will create an ISYT webpage. While in the first instance this site will facilitate conference organisation and will be used to manage all submitted abstracts, it is intended also to serve as a bridge from the first ISYT conference to the second. To this end, it will be augmented as an interactive website where ISYT members can post information about their research.
The conference itself, apart from serving as a venue for academic exchange, will also host meetings in which participants will draw up governing principles for the ISYT in order to ensure its viability as a research network. The intention is for the ISYT to be loosely affiliated with the IATS, and to convene conferences in those years when the IATS Seminar is not held.
The ISYT will also offer the younger generation of scholars the opportunity to have their work published in the conference proceedings. In addition, ISTY members will be involved in the publication process as volume editors and peer reviewers. This will further stimulate a collegial atmosphere among members and strengthen the ISYTas a research association.
Tibetan studies is a growing academic field. Traditionally the preserve of textual scholars and scholars of Buddhism, the shape of the field has recently changed. This is due in large part to China's opening of Tibet to outsiders in the late 1980s, which made it possible to for researchers apply more anthropological, cultural and economic approaches to Tibetan studies. With this access came a greater emphasis on knowledge of spoken Tibetan, and co-operation with Tibetan collaborators and informants. In concert with these developments, the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS), the field's premier research association, grew up from a group of thirty or so scholars to become a massive international research association with hundreds of members.
The result is twofold: firstly, the IATS Seminars, held every three years, are now massively oversubscribed; and secondly, a generation gap has emerged between the older generation of scholars, whose work was necessarily text-based, and the younger generation, who tend to research extensively in Tibet and China and often focus on more contemporary issues. Not only will the ISYT address these problems, it will create a sustainable research network that will complement the IATS.
By convening a conference specifically intended for early-career researchers and postgraduate students, the ISYT will significantly relieve the pressure the IATS Seminars now face due to oversubscription. More importantly, it will offer the younger generation of Tibetan studies researchers a novel, independent platform for sharing their research and networking with like-minded scholars.
The first conference of the ISYT will be convened 2-6 August 2007 at Wolfson College, Oxford. I proposed this location at a meeting of postgraduates and early-career researchers at the 11th Seminar of the IATS in Bonn in late August 2006, where it was met with unanimous approval. This is due not only to its central location relative to European, Tibetan, Chinese and North American scholars, but also to Oxford's status as a major centre for Tibetan studies with over a dozen postgraduates engaged in Tibet-related research.
To facilitate communication about the ISYT conference between the informal membership that already exists, and to post announcements regarding the conference, a web-designer will create an ISYT webpage. While in the first instance this site will facilitate conference organisation and will be used to manage all submitted abstracts, it is intended also to serve as a bridge from the first ISYT conference to the second. To this end, it will be augmented as an interactive website where ISYT members can post information about their research.
The conference itself, apart from serving as a venue for academic exchange, will also host meetings in which participants will draw up governing principles for the ISYT in order to ensure its viability as a research network. The intention is for the ISYT to be loosely affiliated with the IATS, and to convene conferences in those years when the IATS Seminar is not held.
The ISYT will also offer the younger generation of scholars the opportunity to have their work published in the conference proceedings. In addition, ISTY members will be involved in the publication process as volume editors and peer reviewers. This will further stimulate a collegial atmosphere among members and strengthen the ISYTas a research association.
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ORCID iD |
| Brandon Dotson (Principal Investigator) |