Faculty of Oriental Studies
Series associated with Faculty of Oriental Studies
Ancient Egyptian Poetry
Introducing the Qur'an
Oriental Institute
Staying Alive: Poetry and Crisis
Tibetan Graduate Studies Seminar
| # | Episode Title | Description | People | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medicine Mountains along the Himalayas: Healing, Trade, and Ecology | The Greater Himalayas extend through many different kinds of community. This lecture considers several ‘medicine mountains’, particular mountains that fold society and ecology together, and explores them as a comparative category | Will Tuladhar-Douglas | 25 May 2021 | |
| 2 | Why Go on Pilgrimage? Geomancy and the Transformational Powers of Sacred Places in Tibetan Buddhism and Bon | This presentation considers the association between pilgrimage and healing in Tibet through an exploration of the process whereby natural sites are imbued with meaning | Charles Ramble | 25 May 2021 | |
| 3 | Reading khrims Between the Lines: The Rise of Legality in 13th Century Central Tibet | Daniel introduces us to the term khrims and loosk at the “rise of legality” in 13th century Central Tibet. | Daniel Wojahn | 25 May 2021 | |
| 4 | Virūpa is Virūpākṣa: Towards an Indo-Tibetan Siddha Corpus | Westin Harris opens the dialogue between Tibetan, Nāth and Yoga studies centred around the figure of Virūpa | Westin Lee Harris | 12 May 2021 | |
| 5 | Buddhism and Gender Perspectives in Sikkim: Historical and Contemporary Approaches | The talk explores the historical and contemporary influence of women in Sikkim from a Buddhist perspective | Marlene Erschbamer | 10 May 2021 | |
| 6 | Connections in the Making and Meaning of the Art of Bhutan and Tibet in the 17 th and 18 th Centuries: A Study of the Wall Paintings at Tango Monastery | Pu Lan discusses her PhD project, which explores the 17th-century Monastery of Tango and how it illustrates the development of wall painting technology in Bhutan | Pu Lan | 31 Mar 2021 | |
| 7 | The Geluk Domestication of Tantra | Brenton Sullivan presents his new book "Building a Religious Empire: Tibetan Buddhism, Bureaucracy, and the Rise of the Gelukpa" and discuss the third chapter, "Institutionalizing Tantra", in more detail | Brenton Sullivan | 31 Mar 2021 | |
| 8 | The Mongolian Kanjur - Should Tibetologists Care? | Kirill Alekseev presents his latest research on the Mongolian Kanjur and its ramifications in Tibetan Studies | Kirill Alekseev | 16 Mar 2021 | |
| 9 | Layers of Protection: Everyday Life with Empowered Objects | In her talk, Inger Vasstveit discusses “empowered objects” - small Buddhist objects that people wear on their person - in relation to the broader socio-political and cosmological environment in India | Inger Vasstveit | 02 Mar 2021 | |
| 10 | Death by Poisoning: Cautionary Narratives and Inter-Ethnic Accusations in Contemporary Sikkim | Kikee Bhutia talks about the contemporary discourses around ‘othering’ in Sikkim and analyse the region’s inter-ethnic challenges | Kikee Bhutia | 04 Feb 2021 | |
| 11 | Fervent admiration and devotion: Exploring devotional literature in the collected works of the 3rd Dodrupchen | Renée Ford's introduction to the devotional literature in the collected works of the 3rd Dodrupchen composed in admiration of his late teacher Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. | Renée Ford | 02 Feb 2021 | |
| 12 | The Role of Prophecies in the Construction of the Geluk Tradition | In this talk, Michael Ium explores the role of prophecies in the legitimation and construction of the Geluk tradition. | Michael Ium | 03 Dec 2020 | |
| 13 | Liu pin fo lou (Building of Six Classes of Sutra and Tantra), the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon in the Forbidden City | Ziyi Shao takes us to the reign of the Qianlong Emperor and will show us around the Fan hua lou (Hall of Buddhist Efflorescence), one of the most complex and prominent Buddhist monuments in the Forbidden city | Ziyi Shao | 26 Nov 2020 | |
| 14 | Culture of Emotions: Uses and Interpretations of Musical Heritage in the Tibetan Refugee Community of Dharamsala | Chloé Lukasiewicz talk on the significance of music in the Tibetan refugee community in Dharamsala, India | Chloé Lankiewicz | 19 Nov 2020 | |
| 15 | Buddhism and the Rise of ‘the Tibetans’ (bod pa): Religion, Myth and the Promotion of Ethnicity in the Pre-modern Period | Apropos 'the Tibetans': Reinier Langelaar's talk focuses on the mythical origins and the promotion of ethnicity in historical Tibet | Reinier Langelaar | 05 Nov 2020 | |
| 16 | Human Remains in Tibetan Material Religion: An object centered approach | Ayesha Fuentes shares a unique and interdisciplinary insight into art conservation of human remains in Tibetan material religion | Ayesha Fuentes | 29 Oct 2020 | |
| 17 | Sacred Trash, Trash Talks, And Personhood | Bo Wang discussing the practice of depositing garments as offerings to sacred mountains in Eastern Tibet | Bo Wang | 29 Oct 2020 | |
| 18 | The First Tibetan Block Print: The Khara-Khoto Collection of Precious Dhāraṇīs with the Emperor's Postscript | Alla Sizova discusses the role of translation activities in the spread of Buddhism in the 12th century and outlines the extent of Tibetan influence on the Tangut culture. | Alla A. Sizova | 15 Oct 2020 | |
| 19 | Fictional Facts or Factual Fiction? The Social Reality behind Kha stag ʼDzam yag’s "Diary" and Lhag pa Don grub’s "Life of a mule driver" | Fictional Facts or Factual Fiction? Lucia Galli's talk on self-representation and the social reality behind two Tibetan memoirs | Lucia Galli | 04 Jun 2020 | |
| 20 | The Nechung Oracle and the Construction of Identity in the Tibetan Diaspora | The Oracle in Exile: Pema Choedon's talk on the Nechung Oracle and identity construction in the Tibetan Diaspora | Pema Choedon | 28 May 2020 | |
| 21 | The Mortality of the Dalai Lama and its Scriptural Sources: A Study in Tibetan Buddhist Political Theology | I am currently focusing on the problem of the Dalai Lama’s mortality that is, the question of how to come to terms with his suffering and death, in light of the association between Tibetan kingship and the deity Avalokiteśvara. | Ian MacCormack | 21 May 2020 | |
| 22 | Preliminary Practices: Bloody Knees, Calloused Palms and the Transformative Nature of Women’s Labor | The Preliminary Practices not only initiate practitioners into a specific tradition, but also more fundamentally, into Vajrayana Buddhism as it is practiced in contemporary Tibet. | Kati Fitzgerald | 14 May 2020 | |
| 23 | Creative Commons | Writing about the Nechung Oracle | Christopher Bell's talk about oracles, protector deities, and other mysteries | Christopher Bell | 07 May 2020 |
| 24 | Creative Commons | The sku bla of the Tibetan emperors and its metamorphosis in Yungdrung Bön | In the late 12th century Yungdrung Bön text Grags pa gling grags a deity that has a special relationship to the Tibetan ruler plays a prominent part in the narrative of the Tibetan kings. | Per Kværne | 30 Apr 2020 |
| 25 | Episode 8: Death Leaves Signs | This episode, the final one of this season, features the work of Palestinian poet Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, author-in-residence at Refugee Hosts. | Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, Adriana X Jacobs | 14 Jun 2019 | |
| 26 | Episode 7: Living Absences | In this conversation with Trinidadian Scottish poet Vahni Capildeo, author of Venus as a Bear (2018), we explore the layered, polyphonous histories of the places we pass through and inhabit. | Vahni Capildeo, Adriana X Jacobs | 07 Jun 2019 | |
| 27 | Episode 6: The .01 Percent | In this episode, Israeli poet Tahel Frosh talks to us about her debut poetry collection Betsa (Avarice, 2014), financial crisis, and the value of culture. | Tahel Frosh, Adriana X Jacobs | 29 May 2019 | |
| 28 | Episode 5: The Cut Out | In this episode, I talk to US poet Diana Khoi Nguyen (Ghost Of, 2018) about the perseverance of eels, technologies of printing, and how poetry allows for the possibility that our dead will remain present with us in one form or another. | Diana Khoi Nguyen, Adriana X Jacobs | 22 May 2019 | |
| 29 | Talking with the Soul: A Dialogue about Life and Death | In this Ancient Egyptian poem, a man talks with his own soul about whether it is better to live or die. Read by Barbara Ewing. Translated by Richard Bruce Parkinson. | Barbara Ewing, Richard Parkinson | 16 May 2019 | |
| 30 | Episode 4: Survival Takes Time | Interview with US poet Laura Sims, author of Staying Alive (2016) and Looker (2018) | Laura Sims, Adriana X Jacobs | 16 May 2019 | |
| 31 | Episode 3: A Language for Grief | Interview with Israeli poet Shimon Adaf, author of Aviva-Lo (Aviva-No, 2009). | Shimon Adaf, Adriana X Jacobs | 08 May 2019 | |
| 32 | Episode 2: We Grow out of the Past | Interview with UK poet and translator Sasha Dugdale, author of Red House (2011) and Joy (2017) | Sasha Dugdale, Adriana X Jacobs | 01 May 2019 | |
| 33 | Episode 1: Like a Zombie Life | Interview with the US poet Mike Smith, author of Pocket Guide to Another Earth (2018) and And There was Evening and There was Morning (2018). | Mike Smith, Adriana X Jacobs | 23 Apr 2019 | |
| 34 | The Qur'an as literature | A principal reason for why the Qur'an managed to establish itself as a text believed to constitute divine revelation is that it is compelling literature. How do Islamic and modern Western scholars approach the Qur'an's literary dimension? | Nicolai Sinai | 27 Feb 2018 | |
| 35 | Confirming and clarifying: The Qur'an in conversation with earlier Judaeo-Christian traditions | The Qur'an's original addressees must have been familiar with earlier Jewish and Christian traditions, which the Qur'an claims both to "confirm" and to "clarify". | Nicolai Sinai | 27 Feb 2018 | |
| 36 | Rekindling Prophecy: The Qur'an in its historical milieu. | This second episode examines the historical context in which the material now collected in the Qur'an was first promulgated. Special attention is paid to the various groups of addressees who figure in the Qur'an. | Nicolai Sinai | 27 Feb 2018 | |
| 37 | Hovering about the Qur'an without entering into it? On the academic study of the Qur'an. | What does it mean to study the Qur'an historically? In this initial episode we consider how historically oriented research on the Qur'an relates to religious belief and to traditional Islamic scriptural interpretation. | Nicolai Sinai | 27 Feb 2018 | |
| 38 | The Life of Sinuhe | An ancient Egyptian tells his life-story from the walls of his tomb, c. 1850 BC. Read by Barbara Ewing. Translated by Richard Bruce Parkinson | Barbara Ewing, Richard Parkinson | 01 Nov 2016 | |
| 39 | The Queen Shrieks: The Shock of Ancient Egyptian Poetry | The Inaugural lecture of Richard B. Parkinson as Professor of Egyptology, accompanied by actress and author Barbara Ewing, on the emotional power of the famous Ancient Egyptian poem "The Tale of Sinuhe" | Richard Parkinson, Barbara Ewing | 27 Jun 2014 | |
| 40 | Creative Commons | One Connected Vision of Ancient Egypt: A launch of the digitised Topographical Bibliography | Richard Parkinson, Professor of Egyptology, gives a talk about the new digital Topographical Bibliography from the Griffith Institute at Oxford. | Richard Parkinson | 23 Jun 2014 |
| 41 | Creative Commons | How to Be Publishable: Graduate Training Seminar | A crash course in how to get published, from approaching the writing process to marketing your ideas. Dr. Eugene Rogan discusses the ins and outs of academic and trade publishing with insights for students at the graduate level and beyond. | Eugene Rogan | 20 Feb 2014 |