Celebrating the Dalai Lama’s Legacy and Tibet’s Future

On the occasion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 90th birthday, we will explore the significance of His Holiness in shaping Tibet’s political and cultural future and examine how different regions perceive his role, including the complex relationship between Tibet and China. By providing insights from European, South Asian, and Chinese perspectives, the session will create a platform for informed dialogue on His Holiness’ impact and the future trajectory of Tibet.

The discussion will be held in English. / Die Veranstaltung findet in englischer Sprache statt.

Panellists

Ms. Namgyal Dolkar Lhagyari
was born in Dharamshala. After completing her schooling at TCV Schools, she secured her Master’s degree in English Literature from Garhwal University. She taught Literature at the DBS (PG) College until she joined Tibetan Women’s Association to work as a Project Coordinator for ‘Legal Empowerment of Tibetan Women’. From 2013-2016, she worked as the Vice President of the Guchusum Movement Association of Tibet. Whereas in 2016, she was elected as the President of the association. She is also the Vice President of the Free Indo-Pacific Alliance.

Ms. Tenchoe Gyatso
Prior to assuming the role of ICT President, Tencho served as Interim Vice President and Director for Outreach. Born in exile, in Dharamsala, in the Indian foothills of the Himalayas, and the seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the exile Tibetan administration, Tencho was educated at the Tibetan Children’s Village school, Dharamsala, St Bedes College in Shimla, India and St Joseph’s College, Bangalore. After moving to the United States in 1998, she continued her activism as a private individual, serving as a community leader and event organizer to raise awareness about Tibet.

Dr. Dawa Lokyitsang
is a Tibetan American political and historical anthropologist. Her scholarship looks at Tibetan agency as an anticolonial effort in response to China’s developing imperial colonialism in Tibet. Her scholarship on Tibetan schools in India historicises the national agency of Tibetans in exile and examines how the preservation of their national and spiritual identity as Tibetans—an identity criminalised and securitised by China within Tibet itself—became grounds for community-building and movement-generating efforts that regularly unsettle China’s settler- colonial consumption of Tibet.

Dr. Swati Chawla
is an Associate Professor and historian of modern South Asia and the Himalaya. She holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia and completed her undergraduate and master's degrees in English at the University of Delhi. She has been awarded various fellowships from institutions including USAID, the American Institute of Indian Studies, and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Currently, she is the assistant director at the Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogies at JGU.