142153 VO A Religious Country: Tibet’s Political and Religious History (2021S)

Course content: This course will present Tibet’s political and religious history by reading key texts in secondary literature and questioning important concepts related to history, historiography and Tibet itself. Given the breadth of the topic, attention will be drawn to particular moments of Tibet’s history, with an emphasis on the way various teachings entered Tibet and developed through lineal transmission and cultural reinvention. With a wide focus, specific instances of Tibetan appropriation will be taken in order to shed light on particularly potent periods, such as the earlier and later spread of Dharma (8th & 11th c.), the establishment of orders in the 12th c. and the solidification and crises of the 14th to 17th centuries. Tibet’s religious history will be considered while keeping in mind its political events and social realities, with an opening on today’s situation in Tibet itself, and for Tibetans in exile.