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

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

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) is a research institute founded in 1978 at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The institute conducts interdisciplinary research and teaching on multiple South Asian and East Asian nations. The institut ...

at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs,

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

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

Radio Free Asia Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a news service that publishes online news, information, commentary and broadcasts radio programs for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editorially independent reporting, has the stated mission of pro ...

Early life

Shakya was born in

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

, 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 Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

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, in 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 hil ...

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 The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) 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 area ...

. He taught at the Centre of Refugee Studies at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. 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-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

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 Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Canada Research Chairs People from Lhasa Tibetan emigrants to India Writers from Dehradun {{Asia-academic-bio-stub