A Four-Year Collaboration Comes to Fruition
On October 21, an enthusiastic audience of about 70 Buddhist scholars and practitioners welcomed Jacob Dalton to his new appointment as assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies. This position was made possible through the establishment of the Khyentse Chair in Tibetan Buddhism at the University of California at Berkeley.
Professor Dalton was introduced by Professor Robert Sharf, Director of the Group in Buddhist Studies, who thanked Khyentse Foundation for the endowment that is jumpstarting an integrated curriculum of Buddhist studies that will benefit undergraduate and graduate students alike.
Professor Dalton’s talk, “Rethinking Tibet’s Dark Age: Demons, Tantras, and the Formation of Tibetan Buddhism,” drew upon his research on the Dunhuang manuscripts at the British Library in London. It explored the origins of Tibetan Buddhism, complete with colorful stories and myths about demons, gods, and goddesses during Tibet’s so-called “dark ages” of the late 9th and 10th centuries. For details about the lecture, see the Berkeley Buddhist Studies events Web site.
For the full story of how the Khyentse Chair was established, see the [intlink id=”388″ type=”page”]Five Projects Page[/intlink].