Tsering Wangdu Shakya () (born 1959) is a historian and scholar on Tibetan literature and modern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and its relationship with China. He is currently Canadian Research Chair in Religion and Contemporary Society in Asia at the

Institute of Asian Research The Institute of Asian Research (IAR) at the University of British Columbia is a research institute founded in 1978 and has been the foremost research centre in Canada for the inter-disciplinary study of Asia. With a broad geographic reach exten ...

at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs,

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

where he teaches in the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs (MPPGA) program, and also works for Radio Free Asia.

Early life

Shakya was born in

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China. The inner urban area of Lhas ...

, Tibet in 1959, the youngest child in his family. His father, headmaster of a small Tibetan school, died when he was little. His family was divided after the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

erupted in 1966. A brother and a sister were staunch leftists, but another brother was imprisoned for opposing the revolution. In 1967, his mother left Tibet for Nepal with Shakya and another daughter. They settled in northern India, where Shakya attended a Tibetan school in

Mussoorie Mussoorie is a hill station and a municipal board, near Dehradun city in the Dehradun district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is about from the state capital of Dehradun and north of the national capital of New Delhi. The hill s ...

Education and career

* B.A. Hons, (1981) Social Anthropology & South Asian History, SOAS, University of London * M.Phil. (2000) Tibetan Studies. SOAS, University of London. Thesis: ''Dondrup Gyal and the Search for Tibetan Modernism: A Study of Dondrup Gyal’s Literary Works'' * Ph.D. (2004) Tibetan Studies. School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Thesis: ''The Emergence of Modern Tibetan Literature Since 1950'' He convened the first International Conference on Modern Tibet Studies in 1990 at

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

. He taught at the Centre of Refugee Studies at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. From 1999 to 2002 he was a research fellow in Tibetan Studies at the

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Selected publications

* * *

References

External links

Tsering Wangdu ShakyaBlood in the Snows: Reply to Wang Lixiong
Tibetologists Living people Tibetan writers Academics of SOAS University of London Alumni of SOAS University of London Tibetan historians 1959 births University of British Columbia faculty Canada Research Chairs People from Lhasa {{Asia-academic-bio-stub