GEOG 4832: GEOGRAPHY OF TIBET
SPRING 2009
Professor Emily Yeh, x2-5438, yehe@colorado.edu
Class meetings: Tuesdays 12:30-3:20 pm, Guggenheim 201E
Office Hours: Guggenheim 103A, Tuesdays 3:30-5pm and by appointment
Course Description
The Dalai Lama, Richard Gere, Free Tibet. More than most other places in the world,
Tibet has achieved immense fame, through its celebrity spokespeople and its links to
contemporary searches for alternative forms of spirituality and religion (for which Boulder,
Colorado is a veritable epicenter). Yet despite this visibility, knowledge of the complicated and
contradictory nature of actual Tibetan society and culture is quite limited. Indeed, for many
people, Tibet is less a real geographical place than a repository for myths, tropes and images that
tell us more about ourselves than about Tibet and Tibetans.
This critical thinking seminar will rigorously examine contemporary Tibetan politics,
culture, and society-nature relations from a human geographical perspective. We will start with
our pre-given images and tropes, taking them as a point of comparison with the messy politicaleconomic, environmental, social, and historical realities of Tibet. In this way, we will learn about
contemporary Tibet, while also grappling with broader concepts and areas of research in human
and nature-society geography. One goal of the class is to explore the intended and unintended
social and political effects of commonplace Western representations of Tibet. A closely related
goal is to encourage critical reflection on the ways in which dominant Chinese and Tibetan exile
narratives have represented Tibetans inside Tibet, the extent to which Tibetans in Tibet can
represent themselves, and how this bears on the current and future political situation, especially
in light of the Tibetan uprising of spring 2008 and the subsequent political crackdown. We will
also explore issues of nationalism and sovereignty, competing historical narratives, and
exile/diaspora. Finally, the class will examine different approaches to development and
environment in contemporary Tibet.
Class format
Class periods will be devoted primarily to discussion, which will be guided by questions
and commentaries that you write about the assigned readings. In addition, we will have
discussion of film clips, in-class debates, and student presentations of your own final papers. As
opportunities arise, there will be optional out of class activities such as participation in the local
Tibetan community’s celebration of Tibetan New Year.
I aspire for the seminar to be characterized by thoughtful, enthusiastic, informed, and
respectful conversation and debate. This will only be possible if all class members complete the
assigned readings before class, and come prepared to engage in discussion. In addition to
developing skills in critical thinking, I expect students to take advantage of the opportunities to
practice articulating their arguments in discussion, and to improve their writing skills (grammar,
word choice, flow, and organization) throughout the semester.
Required Texts
Anand, Dibyesh. 2007. Geopolitical Exotica: Tibet in the Western Imagination. University of
Minnesota Press.
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Barnett, Robert. 2006. Lhasa: Streets with Memories. Columbia University Press.
Powers, John. 2004 History as Propaganda: Tibetan exiles versus the Peoples’ Republic of
China. Oxford University Press.
Smith, Warren. 2008 China’s Tibet? Autonomy or Assimilation. Boulder: Rowman and
Littlefield.
Optional text also available at the bookstore
Blondeau, Anne-Marie and Katia Buffretrille. 2008. Authenticating Tibet: Answers to
China’s 100 Questions. University of California Press.
In addition to these required texts, we will be also be reading other articles, book chapters and
dissertations. These will be made available on the class CU Learn site.
Assignments and Grading
1. Debate participation and written evaluations
(25%)
Two debates will be held during the semester. Working in a group, you will adopt the
opinions, attitudes and politics of a certain interested party in the debate (see below for more
details). For the debate that you are not directly involved with, you will be required to write a
one-page evaluation of the debate, offering a critical analysis of the key issues covered and an
assessment of the issues that should have been covered or could have been covered better. These
evaluations will be due the week following the debate. Your grade for this portion of the class
includes your participation/performance in the debate and your written evaluation of the other
debate.
2. Class participation
(20%)
I will be taking attendance, and you will be marked down for unexcused absences (since
we cannot have a discussion without discussants). However, simply showing up for class is not
enough to earn a good participation grade. You should come to class having done the readings,
and ready to join in the discussion. My goal is to create an atmosphere in which everybody feels
comfortable speaking up, and in which each student listens to the instructor and other students
respectfully. If you find it particularly difficult to speak up in front of a class, please talk to me
early in the semester.
In addition to your regular participation, your participation grade will also include
leading (or co-leading, depending on enrollment) one discussion during one session of the
semester. This entails starting the discussion off with a brief summary of key arguments and a
list of questions or critiques that you think would be fruitful for discussion. This should take no
more than 10 minutes. We will have discussion leaders except for the two weeks in which we
have debates.
3. One page, discussion-preparation commentaries; 7 due throughout the semester.
(25%)
By noon Monday of each week, you are required to submit a short commentary on the
assigned readings. These should be roughly 1 page (single spaced) in length and should be
submitted online through the class CU Learn site. While these do not have to be structured as
formal essays, they should definitely be checked for spelling, grammar, word choice, and logical
flow of sentences within paragraphs.
You are also required to read other students' postings before class.
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These commentaries are supposed to be critical reflections on the readings, and their
purpose is to prepare you for discussion. Thus, they should not simply be summaries or
descriptions of the readings, but rather your reasoned analysis of them. More specifically, these
commentaries can include some of the following:

What, if anything was particularly unclear or confusing, and why?

What sort of dialogue or debate is going on between authors (including those
from previous weeks’ readings) and who do you agree with more? Do these
differences arise from different theoretical positions, different methodological
approaches, or something else?

Has the author made an argument that you disagree with? Why?

What kinds of evidence have been mobilized by the author to make his or her
argument, and is it convincing?

What methods were employed? Are they relevant to the question and argument?

What kinds of assumptions is the author making? Are they valid? If not, how does
that affect the validity of the argument?
Finally, since one of the main purposes for writing critical commentaries is to enhance
discussion, you will not receive credit for your commentary for a particular week if you fail to
show up for the class where those readings are discussed.
4. Research paper (including topic proposal and presentation)
(30%)
Our class discussions and readings will inevitably leave many areas of the human and
nature-society geography of Tibet unaddressed. You will have the opportunity to choose a topic
that you find interesting, and write a 15-page (double-spaced) research paper, using conceptual
tools developed during the course of the semester. This will be due at the end of the semester.
The last one or two class meetings (depending on enrollment) will be devoted to 15 minute
presentations of your research to the class. The paper and presentation will be graded together.
On the class meeting for Week 8 (March 3), you must hand in a one paragraph to onepage proposal about what you plan to write your paper on. You should then meet with me to
discuss an approach to writing a paper on the proposed topic. The proposal will not be graded,
but is required before writing the paper.
Late assignments:
Late reading commentaries/debate evaluations will lose one letter grade per day they are late.
Assignments more than four days late will not be accepted. LATE RESEARCH PAPERS WILL
NOT BE ACCEPTED.
DEBATES
Two debates will be held during the term. Read through the following debate topics and
decide which one interests you most. We will pick debates during the second or third week of
class. If too many people choose one particular debate and/or sides, I may have to assign these in
spite of your preferences.
You will be working in a group as a debate team and are expected to perform as a group
in the debate. The debate will begin with each team presenting its arguments, followed by
rebuttals from both sides, and then questions from the audience. Audience members must be
prepared to ask questions.
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Once debate teams have been formed, you need to get in touch with your teammates and
decide upon a schedule of meetings (outside class) before your debate, so that you have plenty of
time to prepare. You also need to find a time to meet with me to discuss debate strategies and
preparation. I’ll be able to provide you with advice on your debate positions, as well as pointers
for additional material if you are having trouble finding enough.
The debates are a very important part of the class. They are supposed to be fun as well as
informative. You will not have to do extensive library research for the debates, but will have to
do additional research online, looking for recent news articles and exploring websites for
advocacy groups. For example, for the second debate, it will be necessary to do web research,
especially into Chinese positions, onto the specifics of the railroad and on nomadic (re)settlement.
(These are quite easy to find.) Furthermore, some other suggested readings are supplied below.
For the general framework (as opposed to the detailed empirics) of the debate, you can rely
primarily on the readings and discussions we have in class.
The most important thing to remember about your participation in the debates (as
opposed to your regular class participation) is that in this case you are role-playing. Have some
fun!
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Debate # 1
The role of Western supporters in Tibet’s political struggle
Students for Free Tibet:
We need to do everything possible to show our support for Tibetans and shed light on
ongoing human rights violations in Tibet, by continuing to stage activities such as the Olympics
torch protest, and taking to the streets to protest visiting Chinese officials whenever possible.
It’s been tremendously helpful to Tibetans to have the Dalai Lama’s unparalleled moral authority
around the world. He has in turn successfully cultivated supporters such as Richard Gere and
other Hollywood stars, as well as the US Congress. This keeps the Tibet issue alive and is the
only hope for Tibetans.
Our struggle is not with the Chinese people, but rather with the Chinese state. We have
the moral high ground in this struggle for freedom and must continue to use whatever leverage
we can. This means continuing our organizing efforts.
Within this position, your group should also decide, and specify in your argumentation,
whether the struggle for freedom means independence, “meaningful autonomy”, or something
else.
Reformed Tibet Supporters:
Western supporters have romanticized Tibetans and this has hurt them in numerous ways,
rather than helping them. Actions abroad lead to tightened political control in Tibet. They lead
Tibetans to believe that they have more political support than they actually have given China’s
very powerful place in the world. Westerners always want to help Tibet, but they always do
more harm than good.
Western support only inflames Chinese nationalism, which hurts Tibetans who have to
live in China. Chinese people perceive attacks on their government as racist. Furthermore, the
US economy is so bound up with the Chinese economy, and business interests are so strong, that
the US can never take any meaningful political action. Instead, the symbolic organizing efforts
just hurt Tibetans more.
Within this position, your group should also decide what vision of the future of Tibet it
wants to advance – the status quo, or something else? If something else, how will it come to pass?
To prepare for this debate, you should also read:
1. Patrick French, “Dalai Lama Lite” New York Times, September 19, 2003, and “He may be a
God but he’s no politician” New York Times, March 22, 2008 (on CU Learn)
2. Students for a Free Tibet website (explore): http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/
Tibetan Youth Congress website (explore) http://www.tibetanyouthcongress.org/
3. Jamyang Norbu. “The incredible weariness of hope” (a review of Patrick French’s Tibet,
Tibet ) http://www.tibetwrites.org/?The-Incredible-Weariness-of-Hope
4. Muhbubani, Kishore. May 5 2008. “Tibet through Chinese eyes”
www.newsweek.com/id/134272
5. Peter Hessler, 1999. ‘Tibet through Chinese eyes” Atlantic Online
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99feb/tibet.htm
5. Many other websites on the Tibetan struggle, Tibet support groups, and Chinese reactions to
the protests of 2008
Other related
Barnett, Robert. 1998. Untitled essay, in The Tibetans: A struggle to Survive, Steve Lehman.
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New York: Umbrage editions, pp.178-196. (on CU Learn)
French, Patrick. 2004. Tibet, Tibet: A personal history of a lost land. Harper Perennial.
Iyer, Pico 2008. The Open Road: The global journey of the 14th Dalai Lama. Knopf.
Debate # 2
Development - what is the best path forward?:
Nomadic resettlement and the railway
Chinese Communist Party
Your basic position in the debate is to defend the current patterns and projects of
development in Tibetan areas, in particular the (re)settlement of nomads (especially in Qinghai
province) and the building of the Qinghai-Tibet railway (from Xining to Lhasa).
Among the possible arguments you may marshal, through presentation of information
about the railway and ongoing resettlement projects: Tibetans deserve to develop and participate
in the global economy, just like everybody else. Resettlement is necessary in some cases
because of environmental degradation to the grasslands. Concentrated settlements allow the
state to provide services, such as health and education, to nomads, which are otherwise
impossible to provide when they live in sparsely settled areas. Nomads deserve better health and
education. Those who criticize settlement policies want to keep Tibetans in a state of
impoverishment, keeping them like animals in a zoo for outsiders to look at. They have the right
to develop and modernize, just like everyone else. As the experience of Western countries also
shows, the only way to modernize and develop is through urbanization and industrialization.
The railroad was an important achievement of China’s Open up the West campaign. It
will lower prices and lower barriers to technology transfer, thus promoting development. Critics
who argue against the railway on the grounds that it will bring too many migrants are arguing
that China should not do what the US has done to develop itself. The best way to achieve
development is to allow for a free flow of goods, information, and people.
Note that within this position you can choose whether to argue that 1) migration is good
for Tibet and that a Tibetanized economy is not necessary and is in fact detrimental (explain why)
or 2) argue that in fact the Chinese state does protect Tibetans in the economy (give evidence).
You can choose which position to take, as long as you provide evidence/argumentation for one
or the other (or some other position).
Critics of Chinese government policy
As a group you should decide which position you will argue from, e.g. moderate Tibetan
officials within China, Tibetan exiles, human rights activists, environmentalists, or some other
position of your choosing. This should be specified at the beginning. If you want to split the
group up into subgroups and choose different tactics, that is fine as well.
From whichever position you choose, you will argue against current development
policies in Tibet, including particularly the policy to resettle/settle nomads and the building of
the Qinghai-Tibet railway. These include, but are not limited to, the following: these policies are
designed not for development, but rather to erode Tibetan cultural identity. The government
should place restrictions on Chinese migration into Tibetan areas. The economy should be
Tibetanized. Though grassland degradation is used as an excuse to remove nomads, there is little
evidence of grassland degradation, and little evidence that moving nomads will help. The
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railway will harm the fragile ecology of the Tibetan plateau. You will of course need to provide
more details, and further argumentation or evidence to back these up.
Both sides can also bring in broader arguments about the importance of development,
what development really means, and who is the real provider of development in Tibet.
To prepare for this debate, you should read:
Authenticating Tibet: Answers to China’s 100 Questions. pp. 243-289 (will be made
available if you do not purchase the book)
In addition, you will need to familiarize yourself with the facts and arguments/counterarguments
about the railway and about nomadic settlement, including arguments about grassland
degradation. Much of this information can be found through online searches.
You may find the following websites useful:
http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/tibetanNomads/books.htm
http://eng.tibet.cn
http://savetibet.org
For example:
1. “Expansion of Tibet railway and resettlement of nomads designed to destroy Tibetan identity”
Free Tibet Campaign, http://www.freetibet.org/newsmedia/190808
2. “Resettled Tibetans ‘can’t live on charity forever’
“ http://www.chinadevelopmentbrief.com/node/5733
3. “No longer roaming” Beijing Review
http://www.bjreview.com.cn/special/txt/2008-04/26/content_113861.htm
4. “New railway to jumpstart Tibet’s lagging economic development”
http://www.chinaembassy.bg/eng/Qinghaitibetrailway/t267151.htm
5. Tracking the Steel Dragon: How China’s economic policies and railroad are transforming
Tibet. International Campaign for Tibet report, at http://www.savetibet.org/tracking-steel-dragon
6. “No one has the liberty to refuse” Tibetan herders forcibly relocated
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2007/06/10/no-one-has-liberty-refuse
On grassland degradation:
Feng Yongfeng. 2008. “The Tibetan Plateau: the plight of ecological migrants”
Chinadialogue. http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/2445-The-TibetanPlateau-the-plight-of-ecological-migrants
Harris, Richard, unpublished manuscript. Rangeland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau:
A review of the evidence of its magnitude and causes. (available on CU Learn)
Also related:
Lustgarten, Abrahm. 2008. China's Great Train: Beijing's Drive West and the Campaign to
Remake Tibet. Times Books.
Misrha, Pankaj 2007. “The Train to Tibet,” The New Yorker, April 16, 2007, p. 82
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DETAILED COURSE SCHEDULE
Readings on this syllabus may be subject to modification during the semester.
Week 1
Introduction
January 13
Introductions; go over course syllabus, assignments, etc.
Film: Cry of the Snow Lion
Week 2
Locating Tibet: culture, history, religion
January 20
Kapstein, Matthew. 2006. The Tibetans. Blackwell Publishing. Chapters 1, 3-8
(pp. 1-27; 51-268)
Film clip: Milarepa (or documentary clips TBD)
Related readings
Childs. Geoff. 2004. Tibetan Diary: From birth to death and beyond in a Himalayan valley of Nepal.
Dreyfus, George. 2003. The Sound of Two Hands clapping: The education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk.
University of California Press.
Lopez, Donald, ed. 1997 Religions of Tibet in Practice. Princeton.
Pommaret, Francoise. 2003. Tibet: An Enduring Civilization. Discoveries.
Samuel Geoffrey. 1993. Civilized shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan societies. Washington: Smithosonian.
Shakabpa, T.W.D. 1967 Tibet: A political history. New York: Potala Publications.
Snellgrove, D. and Richardson, H. (1995[1968]) A cultural history of Tibet. Boston: Shambala.
Stein, A. 1972. Tibetan Civilization, London: Faber and Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Tucci, Guiseppe. 1980. The Religions of Tibet, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1980.
THEME 1:
Week 3
ORIENTIALISM AND WESTERN REPRESENTATIONS
Western representations and Hollywood
January 27
Lopez, Donald S. Jr. 1998. “Introduction” and “The Prison” in Prisoners of Shangri-la: Tibetan
Buddhism and the West. University of Chicago press, pp. 1-13; 181-207.
Schell, Orville. 2000. Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-la from the Himalayas to Hollywood.
pp. 31-49; 303-316.
Dodin, T and Rather H. eds. 2001. “Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Missionary
Images of Tibet” pp. 21-46, “The role of Tibet in the New Age Movement” 167-182 and
“Imagining Tibet: Between Shangri-la and feudal oppression” pp 391-416 in Imagining
Tibet: perceptions, projections and fantasies.
Dreyfus, George. 2005. "Are we prisoners of Shangrila?: Orientalism, nationalism and the
study of Tibet." Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 1(1)-1-21.
http://www.thlib.org/collections/texts/jiats/#jiats=/01/dreyfus/
Related Readings
Adams, Vincanne. 1996. "Karaoke as Modern Lhasa, Tibet: Western Encounters with Cultural Politics"
Cultural Anthropology , 11 (4), 1996,: 510-546
Bishop, P. (1989) The myth of Shangri-la: Tibet, travel writing and the western creation of
sacred landscape. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Brauen, Martin. 2004. Dreamworld Tibet: Western Illusions. Orchid Press.
Dodin, T. and Rather, H. eds. 2001. Imagining Tibet: perceptions, projections and fantasies. Boston: Wisdom.
McKay, Alex. 1997. Tibet and the British Raj: The Frontier Cadre.
Said, Edward. 1978 Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books.
Shakya, Tsering. 1992. "Tibet and the Occident: The myth of Shangri-la" Tibetan Review 27(1)"13-16.
Week 4
Postcolonial critique and Tibetan studies
February 3
Anand, Dibyesh 2007. Geopolitical exotica: Tibet in western imagination. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Shakya, Tsering 1994. "Introduction: the development of modern Tibetan studies." in Robert
Barnett (ed.) Resistance and Reform in Tibet, Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.
THEME 2:
CONTESTED NARRATIVES OF TIBET
Week 5
Contested histories
February 10
Powers, John. 2004 History as Propaganda: Tibetan exiles versus the Peoples’ Republic of
China. Oxford University Press.
Film: Distorted Propaganda
Related: Chinese representations
Heberer, Thomas. 2001. “Old Tibet as hell on earth? The myth of Tibet and Tibetans in Chinese
art and propaganda.” in Dodin and Rather, eds., Imagining Tibet, pp. 111-150.
Week 6
Political claims
February 17
Smith, Warren. 2008. China’s Tibet? Autonomy or Assimilation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Film (clips): Serf (Nongnu), 50th anniversary of Peaceful liberation
Related: Tibet since 1949
Barnett, Robert, ed. 1994. Resistance and reform in Tibet. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Goldstein, Melvyn 2007. A history of modern Tibet, volume 2, the calm before the storm, 1951-55. UC Press.
________2009. On the Cultural Revolution in Tibet: The Nyemo Incident of 1969. UC press.
Goldstein et al. 2006. A Tibetan revolutionary: the political life and times of Baba Phuntso Wangye. UC Press.
Khetsun, Tubten. 2007 (Matthew Akester, trans. ) Memories of Life in Lhasa under Chinese Rule. Columbia.
Shakya, Tsering. 2000. The Dragon in the land of the Snows: A History of modern Tibet. Penguin.
(Tibetan Losar/New Year, February 25 – possible activity TBD)
Week 7
Tibetans as Chinese minzu and the new romance of Tibet
February 24
Vasantkumar, Chris. 2006. Ethnicity's entanglements: Intersections of minzu and development
in China's 'little Tibet.' PhD Dissertation: Introduction, Chapters 2-5, pp. 1-17, 61-302.
Upton, Janet. 2002. "The Politics and Poetics of Sister Drum: ‘Tibetan’ Music in the Global
Marketplace” in Timothy J. Craig and Richard King, eds., Global Goes Local: Popular
Culture in Asia Vancouver: UBC Press, pp 99–119.
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Related
Brown, Melissa. 1995. Negotiating Ethnicities in China and Taiwan, Berkeley; East Asian Institute.
Bulag, Uradyn E. 2002. The Mongols at China’s edge: history and the politics of national unity. Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Davis, Sara LM. 2005. Song & silence: Ethnic revival on China’s Southwest borders. Columbia
Gladney, Dru. 2004. Dislocating China: Muslims, minorities and other subaltern subjects. Chicago.
Hansen, Mette. 2005. Frontier People: Han settlers in Minority areas of China. University of British Columbia.
Harrell, Stevan (ed) 1995. Cultural Encounters on China's Ethnic Frontiers. Seattle, WA: University of
Washington Press.
Kolas, Ashild and Monika Thowsen. 2005. On the margins of Tibet: Cultural survival on the Sino-Tibetan
frontier. University of Washington Press.
Litzinger, Ralph. 2000. Other Chinas: The Yao and the poltics of national belonging. Duke UP.
Mackerras, Colin. 1994. China’s minorities: integration and modernization in the twentieth Century. Oxford.
Makley, Charlene. 2007. The violence of liberation: Gender and Tibetan Buddhist revival in post-Mao China. UC.
Rossabi, Morris, ed.. 2004. Governing China's multiethnic frontiers. University of Washington Press.
Schein, Louisa. 2000. Minority Rules: The Miao and the feminine in China’s cultural politics. Duke.
Week 8
Lhasa and its protests
March 3
* paper topic proposal due *
Barnett, Robert. 2006. Lhasa: Streets with Memories. Columbia University Press.
Sautman, Barry. 2008. “Protests in Tibet and Separatism: The Olympics and beyond”
China Left Review Volume 1.
http://chinaleftreview.org/index.php?id=28 (and on CU learn)
Week 9
Debate # 1: Political support
[national uprising day]
March 10
Debate #1
Film: Shadow Circus: The CIA in Tibet
possible participation in uprising day activity with local Tibetan community (TBD)
Yeh, Emily (forthcoming). Tibet and the problem of radical reductionism. Antipode.
Related readings (CIA, 1989 protests, and Sino-Tibetan dialogue)
Conboy, Kenneth and James Morrison. 2002. The CIA’s secret war in Tibet. Kansas.
Dawa Norbu. 2001. China’s Tibet Policy. RoutledgeCurzon.
Dunham, Mike. 2004. Buddha’s Warriors: The story of the CIA-backed Tibetan Freedom
fighters, the Chinese Communist Invasion and the ultimate fall of Tibet. Tarcher.
Goldstein, Melvyn. 1999. The Snow Lion and the Dragon: China, Tibet and the Dalai Lama. UC Press.
Knaus, John. 1999. Orphans of the Cold war: America and the Tibetan Struggle for Survival.
McGranahan, Carole. 2006. “Tibet’s Cold war: The CIA and the Chushi Gangdrug
Resistance, 1956-1974.” Journal of Cold War Studies 8(3): 102-130.
Rabgey, Tashi and Tsetan Wangchuk Sharlho. 2004. Sino-Tibetan dialogue in the post-Mao era:
Lessons and Prospects.
Schwartz, R. 1994 Circle of protest: political ritual in the Tibetan uprising. Columbia.
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THEME 3: ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Week 10
Nomads and rangeland management
Q&A /discussion with two Tibetans from nomadic areas
March 17
Goldstein, Melvyn. 1991. “Change and continuity in nomadic pastoralism on the Western
Tibetan Plateau.” Nomadic Peoples 28:105-23.
Harris, Richard. 2007. Wildlife conservation in China: Preserving the habitat of China's
wild west. M.E. Sharpe. Chapter 2, “China’s Wild West: Geography is destiny”
pp. 20-57.
Yan, Zhaoli, Wu Ning, Yeshi Dorji and Ru Jia. 2005 9(1-2). "A review of rangeland
privatization and its implications in the Tibetan Plateau, China." Nomadic Peoples. pp
31-51.
Bauer, Ken. 2005. “Pastoral development and the enclosure movement in the Tibet Autonomous
Region since the 1980s” Nomadic Peoples 9:85-115.
Foggin, Marc. 2008. “Depopulating the Tibetan grasslands: The role of national policies and
perspectives for the future of Tibetan herders, Qinghai Province, China.” Mountain
Research and Development 28(1): 26-3`.
Klein, Julia, et al. “Synchronizing environmental and climate change adaptation policy in
resource-dependent communities: a case study from the Tibetan Plateau”
Related readings
Banks, Tony. 2003. "Property Rights Reform in Rangeland China:: Dilemmas On the Road to the Household
Ranch" World Development, 31(12): 2129-2142.
Bauer, Ken. 2007. Land use, common property and development among pastoralists in Central Tibet (1884-2004)
PhD dissertation, Oxford.
Clarke, Graham (ed.) 1998. Development, Society, and Environment in Tibet. Papers Presented at a Panel of the 7th
International Association for Tibetan Studies, Graz 1995.
Ekvall, Robert. 1983. Fields on the Hoof: Nexus of Tibetan nomadic pastoralism. Waveland Press.
Goldstein, Melvyn and Cynthia M. Beall. 1990. Nomads of Western Tibet: The survival of a way of life. UC Press.
_______ 1991. "Change and Continuity in Nomadic Pastoralism on the Western Tibetan Plateau". Nomadic Peoples
28 :105-122.
Klein, Julia A., J. Harte & X.Q. Zhao. (2007) Experimental warming, not grazing, decreases rangeland quality on
the Tibetan Plateau. Ecological Applications 17(2): 541–557.
Klein Julia A., J. Harte & X.Q. Zhao. (2004) Experimental warming causes large and rapid species loss, dampened
by simulated grazing, on the Tibetan Plateau. Ecology Letters 7(12): 1170-1179.
Levine, Nancy E. 1999. “Cattle and the Cash Economy: Responses to Change among Tibetan Pastoralists in Sichuan,
China,” Human Organization, Vol. 58(2):161-172.
Miller, Daniel J. 2000. “Tough times for nomads in western China: Snowstorms, settling down,
fences and the demise of traditional nomadic pastoralism.” Nomadic Peoples 4(1): 83- 109.
Richard, Camille. 2005 . "Developing Alternatives to resettlement for pastoralists on the Tibetan Plateau. Nomadic
Peoples 9(1).
Schaller, G. B.1998. Wildlife of the Tibetan Steppe. The University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Williams, Dee Mack. 2002. Beyond Great Walls: Environment, Identity and Development on the Chinese
Grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Stanford University Press.
Yeh, Emily T. 2003. “Tibetan range wars: Spatial politics and authority on the grasslands of Amdo.”
Development and Change. 34(3):499-523.
_______2005. “Green governmentality and pastoralism in western China: ‘Converting pastures to
Grasslands’ ” Nomadic Peoples. 9(1): 9-30.
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Week 11
Week 12
Film clips:
Spring Break
Natural resource management/Are Tibetans ‘Green”?
Grassroots environmental efforts in Tibet
March 24
March 31
Huber, Toni. 1997. ‘Green Tibetans: A brief social history” in Frank Korom,ed, Tibetan
Culture in the diaspora, pp. 103-119.
Huber, Toni. 2004. “The Chase and the Dharma: The Legal Protection of Wild animals in Premodern Tibet” Wild Animals in Asia. Cultural Perspectives. Edited by John Knight: 36
-55.
Winkler, Daniel. 2008. “Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal Commodification of
the Rural Economy in Tibet AR. Economic Botany 62.3 p.291-305
Winkler, Daniel. 1998. “Major Threats to Tibetan Forest Ecosystems and Strategies for Forest
Biodiversity Conservation.” In: Tibet's Biodiversity - Conservation and Management.
WWF China Programme / TAR Forestry Bureau International Workshop, Lhasa
September 1998, China Forestry Publishing House, Beijing, 62-67.
http://www.danielwinkler.com/id52.htm
Tibet Information Network 2002. Mining Tibet: Mineral exploration in Tibetan areas of the
PRC. pp. 7-36, (preface and Chapter 1, Policy and objectives) and Chapter 5,
Environmental issues, pp. 147-180 and Chapter 6, “Costs and benefits” pp. 181-206
WEEK 13
Development
April 7
Fischer, Andrew 2007 A Theory of Polarisation, Exclusion and Conflict within Disempowered
Development: the case of contemporary Tibet in China. PhD thesis, London School of
Economics.
Related readings
Goldstein , Melvyn, Ben Jiao, Cynthia Beall, and Phuntsog Tsering. 2003. "Development and
Change in rural Tibet: Problems and adaptations." Asian Survey 43(5): 758-779.
Goodman, David S.G, ed. 2004.The Campaign to ‘Open up the West’: National, provincial-level and local
perspectives. China Quarterly Series Special No. 5, Cambridge University
Press.
Hu, Xiaojiang. 2003. The Little shops in Lhasa, Tibet: Migrant businesses and the formation of
markets in a transitional economy. PhD Dissertation, Harvard University.
Makley, Charlene. 2006. "Competing conversions: Gendered development encounters among Tibetans in
Qinghai." AAS annual meeting, paper.
Sautman, Barry and Irene Eng. 2001. "Tibet: Development for whom?" China Information 15(2):20-74.
Sautman, Barry and June Dreyer, eds. 2006. Contemporary Tibet: Politics, development and society
in a disputed Region. M. E Sharpe.
Wang, Shiyong. 2007. "The failure of education in preparing Tibetans for market participation."
Asian Ethnicity 8(2): 131-148.
Week 14
Debate #2: Development
April 14
Reading: excerpt from
Development as gift?: Agriculture, migration and Tibet’s Economy of Appearances
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THEME 4: TRANSNATIONALISM AND DIASPORA
Week 15
Politics and identity in exile
April 21
Begin student presentations
Diehl, Keila. 2002. Echoes from Dharamsala: Music in the life of a Tibetan refugee community.
University of California Press, Berkeley: Preface, Chapters 1-3, pp 32-143.
Frechette, Anne. 2007. "Democracy and democratization among Tibetans in exile." Journal
of Asian Studies. 66(1): 97-128.
Yeh, Emily T. and Kunga T. Lama. 2006. “Hip-hop gangsta or most deserving of
victims?: Transnational migrant identities and the paradox of Tibetan
racialization in the US.” Environment & Planning A. Vol. 38: 809-829.
Yeh, Emily T. 2007. "Exile meets homeland: Politics, performance and authenticity in
the Tibetan diaspora." Environment & Planning D: Society and Space 4:648-667.
Related readings
Anand, Dibeysh. 2003. "Travel-routing diaspora…homing on Tibet." Diaspora: A journal
of transnational studies. 12(3): 211-229.
Frechette, Anne. 2002. Tibetans in Nepal: The dynamics of international assistance among a
community in exile. New York: Bergahn Books, selections.
Harris C, 1999 In the Image of Tibet: Tibetan painting after 1959 (Reaktion Books, London)
Hess, J M. 2003. Stateless Citizens: culture, nation and identity in the expanding Tibetan diaspora.
PhD Dissertation, University of New Mexico
Korom, Frank. ed. 1997. Constructing Tibetan culture: contemporary perspectives. World Heritage Press, Quebec.
______ed. 1997 Tibetan Culture in the Diaspora 7th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan
Studies, Graz 1995 (Verlag der Osterrichsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften,Wien).
McGranahan, C, 2005, “Truth, Fear and Lies: Exile politics and arrested histories of the Tibetan resistance”
Cultural Anthropology 20(4):570-600
McLagan, M 1996. "Computing for Tibet: virtual politics in the post-cold war era." in Connected:
Engagements with Media. ed. George Marcus, Chicago 1996: 159-194.
McMillen, L. H. (2001) Tibet in English, English in Tibet: Self-presentation in Tibet and the diaspora. Palgrave
Moran, Peter. 2004 Buddhism observed: Travelers, exiles and Tibetan dharma in Kathmandu. Taylor and Francis.
Nowak M, 1984, Tibetan Refugees: Youth and the New Generation of Meaning. Rutgers.
Zablocki, Abraham. 2005. The Global Mandala: The transnational transformation of Tibetan Buddhism.
PhD Dissertation, Cornell.
Week 16
Student presentations, continued
(no reading)
April 28
*** FINAL PAPER DUE TUESDAY MAY 5 AT 4PM ***
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A FEW USEFUL ON-LINE RESOURCES
Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library: www.thdl.org
Tibet Information Network: www.tibetinfonet.net
Tibetan news collection from exile, www.phayul.com
China’s Tibet information center, http://eng.tibet.cn
Center for Research on Tibet, (especially articles on nomads): http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/
China Digital Times: http://chinadigitaltimes.net
Tibetan writings from Tibet (translated) http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/
China dialogue (environmental issues) www.chinadialogue.net
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SOME EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE TOPICS FOR THE FINAL PAPER
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tourism in Tibet
sacred geography and pilgrimage
changing gender roles in Tibet
religious revival
regional or sectarian politics and identities
changing Chinese imaginations of Tibet
governance of Tibetans compared with other national minorities in China
political economy of development in Tibet
the role of Tibet in Sino-American relations
CIA involvement in Tibet
transnational conservation efforts in Tibet, sacred lands and environmental identities
effects of recent environmental policies (Sloping Land Conversion Project, Natural
Forest Protection Program, etc) in Tibet
effects of climate change on Tibetan livelihoods
contemporary Tibetan literature
contemporary Tibetan art
Tibetan music or film
the role of the internet in Tibetan politics
the role of the Dalai Lama in exile
Tibetan history in the nationalist (Republican) period
analyzing Tibetan cadres
the Shugden controversy
identity, citizenship, and imaginations of homeland among Tibetan exiles
contemporary issues regarding Tibetan peoples outside of China (eg. in Nepal, Ladakh,
Pakistan)
history of western representations of Tibetans
education policy in contemporary Tibet
analysis of protests of 2008
the relationship between Tibetan nationalism and Chinese nationalism
Chinese migration into Tibet
mining or other natural resource issues in Tibet
Tibetan Buddhism in the US
the role of Tibetan intellectuals in society
the effects of China’s ‘open up the west” campaign on Tibetan areas
modernity and urbanization in Tibet, the production of urban space
analyses of the effectiveness of transnational support organizations (eg Tibet Youth
Congress, International Campaign for Tibet, or Students for Free Tibet)
demography and demographic debates
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CU Boulder campus policies and procedures
Accommodations for students with disabilities
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services as
soon as possible, and definitely by February 10, 2009 so that your needs may be addressed. Disability Services
determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. (303-492-8671, Willard 322, www.Colorado.EDU/
disability services)
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Students who have serious religious obligations which conflict with assignments or required attendance must notify
the professor as soon as possible, and definitely no later than February 3, 2009. If this is the case, the student and
professor will meet and work out a mutually satisfactory agreement for the particular situation.
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Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Students who
fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Faculty have the professional responsibility
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All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic
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or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at
http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/
Plagiarism
According to the university: “Plagiarism is defined as the use of another’s ideas or words without appropriate
acknowledgment. Examples of plagiarism include: failing to use quotation marks when directly quoting from a
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information from computer-based sources, i.e., the Internet.” If you are discovered to have
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Council.
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