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,
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. 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. In 2009 TALI
published his second children book in Tibetan,
Little Shepperd, Little Shepperd, What Are You Doing? The same
year he published in India 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, will be soon
published in the United States.
Volunteer Staff
Lan Wu
(Ulan), 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.
Summer Interns
Khenrab
Palden, was TALI's 2007 Summer Intern. During the summer of 2007 Khenrab
Palden worked on converting a Tibetan-language children's book
published by TALI into a short animated movie.