Board of Directors
Patricia
Schiaffini (Ph.D., Chinese Literature, University of
Pennsylvania, 2002) is President and Founder of TALI. She has taught
Chinese language at the University of Pennsylvania and Pomona College,
where she also directed the Oldenborg Center for Modern Languages and
International Relations. Her articles on different aspects of sinophone
modern Tibetan literature and modern Chinese literature, as well as
some interviews with prominent Tibetan writers, have been published in
the Journal of International Affairs,
World Literature Today, Latse
Library Newsletter, Quimera,
Estudios de Asia y África, Revista
Española del Pacífico, Contemporary
Tibetan Literary Studies
(Leiden: Brill, 2006), Sinophone
Studies: A Critical Reader (forthcoming, Columbia University
Press). Her volume Modern
Tibetan Literature and Social
Change, co-edited with fellow TALI board member Lauran Hartley,
was
published by Duke University Press in 2008. She currently teaches
Chinese language and Tibet-related courses at Southwestern University
(Georgetown, TX).
Tenzin Norbu Nangsal was born
in Lhasa. He graduated from Tibet University in 1990 with a B.A. in
Biology. From 1990 to 1993 he taught Tibetan language and biology in
middle schools in Lhasa. From 1993 to 1996 he worked as environmental
researcher in India. He has published a general introduction to Tibet's
environment and two volumes on endangered species of Tibet, all written
in the Tibetan language. He has taught courses on Tibetan language and
culture at
Virginia University and Indiana University. He currently teaches
Tibetan Language at Columbia University, in New York City. He has
recently translated eight volumes of the Open Eye Children's Series
into Tibetan, a project funded by Trace Foundation and published in
2005 by the Nationalities Publishing House in Beijing. He has
coauthored, together with his wife Tsering Choedron, the
Tibetan-language children's
story A Little Frog and a Crow,
published by TALI in Qinghai (PRC) in 2007. In 2009 TALI
published his second children book in Tibetan,
Little Shepperd, Little Shepperd, What Are You Doing? The same
year he published a children dictionary called Concise Tibetan-English Visual Dictionary.
Lauran Hartley (Ph.D., Tibetan
Studies, Indiana University, 2003) has taught courses on Tibetan
literature at Columbia University and Indiana University, and courses
on Tibetan religion at Rutgers University. Her publications include
several literary translations, as well as articles in the Journal of
Asian Studies, Cahiers
d’Extrême-Asie, History of
Religions, Amdo
Tibetans in Transition: Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the
International Association for Tibetan Studies (Leiden: Brill,
2002),
and Contemporary Tibetan Literary
Studies (Leiden: Brill, 2006). Her
recent book project Modern Tibetan
Literature and Social Change,
co-edited with Patricia Schiaffini, was published by Duke
University Press in 2008. Lauran also serves as consultant and editor
for the Latse Contemporary Tibetan Cultural Library in New York City.
She now serves as Tibetan Studies Librarian for
the Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University.
Dorje Tsering Chenaktsang (A.K.A. lJangbu) is considered by many Tibet's greatest living poet. Born in Qinghai province (People's Republic of China), he worked for many years as editor of the Tibetan-language literary journal Bod kyi rtsom rig sgyu rtsal [Tibetan art and literature] in Lhasa. In recent years he has been a Visiting Professor of Tibetan Language at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO) in Paris. He has recently directed the documentaries Tantric Yogui, co-produced with Stampede, and Ani Lacham: A Tibetan Nun, a co-production of Workshop Now and Purplelito. He is currently working on a series of documentaries that reflect on social and cultural issues in modern Tibet. He has recently co-written the script of Sherwood Hu's acclaimed movie Prince of the Himalayas (2006). The first English translation of his poems and short stories, an anthology of his works titled The Nine-Eyed Agathe, was published by Lexington Books in 2010.
Françoise Robin (Ph.D., Tibetan Studies, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales INALCO, Paris, 2003) is Assistant Professor of Tibetan language and literature at INALCO. Her research deals with contemporary Tibetan literature, film, and traditional printing techniques. She has published articles in prestigious journals such as China Perspectives and Esprit, as well as book chapters in Contemporary Tibetan Literary Studies (Leiden: Brill, 2006), Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change (Durham: Duke UP, 2008), and Tibetan Arts in Transition (Rome: ASIA, 2009). Françoise has translated several texts of contemporary and traditional Tibetan literature, among them La Controverse dans le jardin aux fleurs by Langdün Päljor (Paris: Bleu de Chinese, 2006), L´Artiste tibétain (Paris: Bleu de Chine, 2007), and La Fleur vaincue par le gel (Paris: Bleu de Chinese, 2006) by Thöndrupgyäl.Lan Wu,
holds an M.A. degree in Chinese Literature
from Columbia University (2007). She is now a Ph.D. candidate in
Tibetan Studies at Columbia University. She has volunteered with
non-profit
organizations in the field of youth development, and has worked as an
inter-cultural facilitator at college level in the US. Ulan has taught
Chinese Language at ACC Beijing-Hamilton Overseas Program, the former
IUP Beijing-U.C. Berkeley Overseas Program, Pomona College, Beloit
College, Middlebury College, and
The
Hotchkiss School.