The national conference on “Tibetan Identity Construction in the Diaspora: Being Tibetan” successfully concludes with 24 scholars presenting their research papers. About 350 participants attended the three-day conference.
The second day of the conference had sessions with eight speakers presenting their papers concurrently and two plenary sessions. A panel discussion on “Role of Education in Tibetan Identity Construction in the Diaspora” was held with five panelists presenting their arguments. The panelists were Tashi Tsering, Claude Arpi, Dr. Dorjee Rabten Nesher, Tenzing Sangpo and Anasuya Syam. With personal anecdotes, narratives and statistical evidence, the discussion was further extended with questions from the audience.
The third day of the conference had four presenters who spoke on their topics ranging from legal to economic perspectives. A plenary session was held with Prof. Yeshi Choedon who spoke on “Tibetan Diaspora and shifting goals”. Dr. Swapna Mitra, Assistant Professor, W. B Government College says, “The conference was excellent. I did want to share my research in this kind of conference with a Tibetan audience. I am glad I did it here in DLIHE.”
The conference concluded with a speech from the principal, Dr. B. Tsering who ended it on a positive note—“This is the first national conference DLIHE has organized and it was quite a learning experience. We hope to use these lessons and hold many more conferences on national and international level.”
Tenzin Jinpa, Lecturer in BCA, co-manager of the event says, “I am glad that the conference was a success. All thanks to the team work and we hope to organize many more in the years to come.” Ruahamah Thejus, Lecturer in Geography is one of the seven faculties who presented on the topic “Social Capital among Tibetans in Exile; Nurturing a Tibetan identity in exile”. When asked about her view on the conference, she says “The institute did a great job however; I wish our students have been more involved.” Loyak Tashi, student of BA honors in Tibetan language and literature, third years is the only student presenter.
