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 and Contemporary
Tibetan Literary Studies
(Leiden: Brill, 2006). Her volume Modern
Tibetan Literature and Social
Change, co-edited with fellow TALI board member Lauran Hartley,
will be
published by Duke University Press in 2008. She currently teaches
Chinese language at Southwestern University (Georgetown, TX).
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 is currently a visiting Professor of
Tibetan Language at the Sorbonne University in Paris. He has recently
directed the
documentaries Tantric Yogui,
co-produced with Stampede, and The
Story of 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).
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, will be 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 has recently assumed the position of Tibetan Studies Librarian for
the Starr East Asian Library at Columbia University.
Nangsal Tenzin Norbu was born
in Lhasa. He graduated from Tibet University in 1990 with a B.A. in
biology. From 1993 to 1996 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. Since his arrival in the United States in 1996
he has taught courses on Tibetan language and Tibetan 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 August 2007.
Bridget
Bray holds an M.A.
degree in South Asia Studies, with a Tibetan concentration, from the
University of Washington. She is a museum professional with the Pacific
Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA. Tibetan art and culture is both a
professional and personal interest for her, originating in her study of
Tibetan language. She has lived and studied in India and Nepal. She has
many years' experience in non-governmental and non-profit organizations
that work in Tibet.
Volunteer Staff
Lan Wu
(Ulan) holds an M.A. degree in Chinese literature
from Columbia University (2007), where she also studied the
language, art and history of Tibet. 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, and Middlebury College. She has recently joined the faculty of
The
Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, Connecticut) as Lecturer of Chinese
Language.
Summer Interns
Khenrab
Palden, Summer Intern (2007). He is a junior in Film and Tibetan
Studies at Hampshire College (Amherst, MA). He holds an Uttar Madhyama
degree from the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies, Satnath
(Varanasi, India) where he studied, among other disciplines, Tibetan
Buddhism. At Hampshire College Khenrab Palden holds leadership roles in
different student organizations, and serves both as tutor of Tibetan
language and as a teaching assistant for courses on Tibetan Studies. He
has recently filmed a short documentary on the making of Hampshire
College. His main interests are film and photography, studying Tibetan
life, and working with children. During the summer of 2007 Khenrab
Palden has worked on converting a Tibetan-language children's book
published by TALI into a short animated movie.