Vita
Current Appointments
Head of Research
Department of Literary Research
Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC), New York, NY
Lecturer
Departments of Religious Studies and Foreign Languages
The New School University, New York, NY
Cofounder and Executive Director
Jonang Foundation, San Francisco, CA
Review Editor
Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly
Education
Ph.D.
Buddhist Studies, Department of Philosophy and Religion. 2007
California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, CA
B.A.
Religious and Asian Studies. 1998
Wheaton College, Norton, MA
Concurrent graduate studies at Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley; concurrent undergraduate at Naropa University.
Recent Talks
“Technology and Translation in the Future of Tibetan Studies.”
Tibetan Studies After Gene Smith and Directions for the Future
Columbia University, New York, NY. 2011
“Applied Scholarship in Tibetan Cultural Regions of China.”
The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. 2010
“Zhentong Buddhist Philosophy in the Jonang Tradition.”
Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY. 2010
“Visualizing the Tantric Buddhist Mandala.”
Yale University, New Haven, CT. 2010
“The History of the Jonang Kalachakra Tradition.”
Tibet House, New York, NY. 2009
Recent Presentations
“Accessing a Global Vision of Tibetan Literary Culture”
Panel: Preservation of the Literary Heritage
Third International Conference on the Tibetan Language. Columbia University, NY. 2011
“A Buddhist Hermeneutic of Time: Tibetan Recalculations of the Buddhist Councils and Zhentong Literary History in India”
Panel: India in the Asian Buddhist Imagination, Buddhism Section
American Academy of Religion, San Francisco, CA. 2011
“Banned Books, Sealed Printeries and Neglected Dkar chag: Precursors and Prospects in Light of E. Gene Smith’s Contributions to Tibetan Literary Studies”
Co-Convener of Panel: E. Gene Smith: Remembering His Life and Works
International Association of Buddhist Studies, Taiwan. 2011
“Codifying the Krtyuga: Preliminary Remarks on a Literary History of Gzhan stong in Tibet”
Convener of Panel: Rang stong / Gzhan stong: Perspectives on the Discourse in India and Tibet
International Association of Buddhist Studies, Taiwan. 2011
“Identity Politics of Re-Embodiment: Lineage Formation in Tibetan and Mongolian Accounts of Rje btsun Tā ra nā tha’s (1575-1635) Death and the Birth of Khal kha Blo bzang bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan (1635-1723)”
Panel: Madness, Smallpox, and Death in Tibet, Tibetan and Himalayan Religions Group
American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, GA. 2010
“Revealing the Gsang ba’i ye shes: Reflections on the Autobiography of the Female Jo nang pa Adept Rje bstun ma ‘Phrin las dbang mo (1585-c.1668)”
Convener of Panel: The Jo nang pa: Narrative, Transmission, and Tradition Reconsidered
International Association of Tibetan Studies, University of British Colombia, Vancouver. 2010
“Life after Tāranātha: Priorities and Strategies for Sustaining Esoteric Buddhist Knowledge Transmission Among the Jonangpa in 17th Century Tibet.”
Co-Convener of Panel: Strategies of Buddhist Knowledge Transmission: Texts, Techniques, and Technologies in Tibet, Tibetan and Himalayan Religions Group
American Academy of Religion, Montreal, Canada. 2009
“Is the Uttaratantra-śastra Really a Madhyamaka Text?: Jonangpa Understandings of Tibetan Buddhist Doxography and Historiography.”
Panel: The Uttaratantra in Tibet, Buddhist Philosophy and Tibetan and Himalayan Religions Group
American Academy of Religion, Chicago, IL. 2008
“Tāranātha’s Secret: Reading from the Autobiography of the Tibetan Female Adept Phrin las dbang mo.”
TBRC/Rubin Foundation Scholars Seminar, New York. 2008
“Retelling Mahayana History: Jo nang Sources for the Indian and Tibetan Transmissions of Gzhan stong Madhyamaka.”
Panel: Mahayana Buddhism Section
International Association of Buddhist Studies, Atlanta, GA. 2008
