HTIB00811U Introduction to Tibetan Studies 1

This course provides an overview of Tibetan Studies and highlights the most obscure, puzzling, and captivating moments of Tibetan history and its myths. It opens with an introduction to the academic subject of Tibetan Studies, its historical developments, debates, limitations, and prospects, with an emphasis on distinguishing between the emic (“insider”) and etic (“outsider”) perspectives. In the second part of the seminar, we introduce a basic outline of the Tibetan political and religious history from the beginnings of historiography on Tibet in the 7th century A.D. up to 1959, which marks the transition of Tibet from the traditional and indigenous rule to the amalgamation with the Communist Chinese state.