The Tibetan Studies Collection at Columbia University

12/02/2025

For 25 years, the Modern Tibetan Studies Program (MTSP) at Columbia University has worked to bring a contemporary focus to Tibetan and Himalayan studies through our teaching, programming, special projects, and community engagement.

Unfortunately, the cancellation of three federal grants last spring (2025) severely impacted our administrative and programming budgets. We relied on those monies to bridge the study of language, history, literature, religion and culture, and to extend scholarship beyond the university with a wide range of inspiring collaborators.

Your interest and our exchanges are at the heart of MTSP's mission. If you have ever attended one of our events—film screening, panel discussion, concert, workshop, online talk, training program—please keep us in mind this season. Every bit counts. Help us continue providing an international open-access forum for public learning and discourse on Tibetan Studies.

https://www.givenow.columbia.edu/?_sa=13492&_sd=435 #

12/01/2025

Please join us on Friday, December 5, and Saturday, December 6, for "Ocean of Song & Dance: Emerging Currents in Tibetan & Himalayan Performance Studies" at Columbia University. For more details + RSVP: bit.ly/oceanofsong

11/12/2025

Register today for this upcoming book talk on Zoom!

This talk on November 13 is available online only. Please register to attend via Zoom. All are welcome. https://mailchi.mp/b214526b14ae/sept-12-traveling-in-bardo-the-art-of-living-in-an-impermanent-world-a-book-talk-by-ann-tashi-slater-17661027

08/15/2025

Nearly 10 years after its world premiere, Hema Hema: Sing Me a Song While I Wait, the visionary film from Bhutanese filmmaker and renowned Buddhist teacher Khyentse Norbu, is coming to New York City. For one week only, from August 8th to 14th, you can experience it on the big screen at Greenwich Village’s Quad Cinema. We hope you’ll join us!

Tickets available August 4th at www.quadcinema.com/film/hema-hema-sing-me-a-song-while-i-wait/

Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse / Dekanalog / Quad Cinema

04/10/2025

Join us for a book talk with Tsering Wangmo Dhompa on April 25, 12-1:30 PM.
In-person or by Zoom. Registration required.

Co-sponsored by Columbia Center for Buddhist Studies, Columbia University: Modern Tibetan Studies Program, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, and C.V. Starr East Asian Library.

Current and Upcoming The Politics of Sorrow: A Book Talk with Tsering Wangmo Dhompa Share Add to Calendar: Google Yahoo April 25, 2025 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM Event time is displayed in your time zone. Speaker: Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, Associate Professor, English Department, Villanova University Moderator...

12/13/2024

"The Harvard-Yenching Library Travel Grant Program aims to assist scholars from outside the Boston area in their use of our collections in their research....Grants are awarded on a merit basis to non-tenured faculty members, dissertation-writing Ph.D. candidates (or ABDs), and independent scholars."

The Harvard-Yenching Library awards several grants each year to help scholars travel to Cambridge to use our collections in their research.

11/07/2024

The Asian Division of the Library of Congress is now accepting applications for its annual Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship for 2025. This year’s deadline is midnight January 12, 2025. More information, including how to apply online, is on the Asian Reading Room website. We have also posted the announcement on our 4 Corners of the World Blog.

This short-term fellowship in any field of Asian studies provides an opportunity to conduct research in the Asian Reading Room of the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Open to faculty, undergrad and grad students, librarians, independent researchers – any and all (no institutional affiliation necessary). Please especially share with early career students and scholars who do not have access to travel funds for research.

The Asian Division is now accepting applications for its Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship, which supports short-term research visits to the Asian Reading Room at the Library of Congress. This year's application deadline is midnight Sunday, January 12, 2025.

11/07/2024

Please mark your calendars for our upcoming SFEMT lecture:

Tibetophone rap in and out of Tibet

with Martin Hanker (Charles University Prague)
The 14 November at 18:00 via Zoom (https://shorturl.at/ryQZ2)

11/07/2024

10/22/2024

We are excited for this upcoming talk by Pema Tso, Chief Editor of the བོད་ཀྱི་དུས་བབ། Tibet Times newspaper.
This Friday, October 25, at 2 pm. In-person only, please register at link in announcement below.

Please join us on Friday to hear from Pema Tso, Chief Editor of the "Tibet Times" who will discuss news reporting in the Tibetan diaspora community.

Note: This event is in-person only. Please register early (by Oct. 23) so that we can request an on-campus QR Code for you to access the Morningside Campus: https://tinyurl.com/PemaTsoMTSP

10/09/2024

Don't miss this special event with Bhuchung D. Sonam, writer, editor, publisher, and co-founder of TibetWrites. In-person and online.
Register here: https://mtsp.weai.columbia.edu/events/exile-writing-and-home-bhuchung-d-sonam

Join us this Friday, October 11 with Bhuchung D. Sonam to explore how Tibetan exiles find that their displacement, despite its hardships, becomes fertile ground for creative expression.

This event is part of a series: Cultural Production in the Tibetan Diaspora.

09/16/2024

THIS WEEKEND, Sept. 21-22:
Please join us for the finale event of our year-long film series tribute to the late Pema Tseden. Three young Tibetan filmmakers will be in attendance to screen their films and take part in discussions and a roundtable. Reserve your (free) tickets today!

Co-sponsored by Columbia University's Dept. of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University, C.V. Starr East Asian Library, Columbia University: Modern Tibetan Studies Program , and the Columbia University School of the Arts

Current and Upcoming LEGACIES: Pema Tseden & New Tibetan Cinema Series Finale—Films by the Next Generation Share Add to Calendar: Google Yahoo Finale Poster September 21, 2024 - September 22, 2024 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM Event time is displayed in your time zone. Lenfest Center for the Arts Join us for ...