Published: Oct. 21, 2020

New grant from the U.S. Department of Education will allow more offerings in Tibetan and Himalayan studies for students


The Center for Asian Studies has received a two-year Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will allow the center to further develop offerings in Tibetan and Himalayan studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

“CU Boulder is an internationally recognized leader in research on Tibet and Himalaya issues. This grant will help bring that expertise to our undergraduate students in the form of a new certificate program in Asian Studies,” said Tim Oakes, the center’s director. 

The grant has three main components:

1) Tibetan and Himalayan area studies: The center plans to hire a half-time instructor who will develop and teach introductory courses on Tibetan and Himalayan civilization from traditional to contemporary times, offer course development grants to encourage CU Boulder faculty members to add Tibetan and Himalayan content to existing courses or create new courses focusing on the region, and work with partners at the Tibet Himalaya Initiative to plan a series of events on the region. The first event, “The Chinese Revolution on the Tibetan Frontier: Rebellion, Repression, and Remembrance on a Tibetan Borderland of Early-Maoist China,” a lecture by Benno Weiner, associate professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University, was held remotely this month.

2) Tibetan and Nepali language courses: Beginning in fall 2021, the center plans to offer credit-bearing Directed Independent Language Studies courses in both Tibetan and Nepali languages, in partnership with the Anderson Language Technology Center (ALTEC).

3) Language study scholarships: The center will offer scholarships to students who will pursue summer language programs in Tibetan and Nepali, either through study abroad or domestically, to help them build their language skills beyond the introductory level available at CU Boulder.

Information about grant activities will be posted to the Center for Asian Studies website as it becomes available.