Courses in Classical Tibetan Language To Be Offered at UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- As a follow up to the 2006 visit to University at Buffalo by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the UB Asian Studies Program will offer introductory courses in the classical Tibetan language in the 2007-08 academic year taught by noted Tibetan scholar Craig Preston.

The courses will serve as an introduction to this written language, which was created to translate the large corpus of Indian Buddhist sutras, tantras and commentaries from the original Sanskrit. It is the language of the sacred texts of Tibetan Buddhism, most of which have not been translated into modern Tibetan, Chinese or Western languages.

The courses will introduce students to the basics of the language and enable them to read short textual passages by the second semester.

They are open to UB students and members of the community and may be audited or taken for three undergraduate credits each.

The registration number for this fall's course, "Topics in Asian Studies: First Semester Classical Tibetan" (AS 394), is 042306. The registration number for the course to be offered in the spring 2008 semester, "Topics in Asian Studies: Second Semester Classical Tibetan" (AS 395, is 390705.

Craig Preston is author of "Classical Buddhism" (with Daniel Cozort), "How to Read Classical Tibetan, Volume 1: Summary of the General Path" and "How to Read Classical Tibetan, Volume 2: Introduction to Buddhist Tenets."

He majored in religious studies at the University of Virginia, where he studied under the distinguished American Tibetologist Jeffery Hopkins and other noted Tibetan scholars. He also studied in India. Preston holds a law degree and is an adjunct faculty member of the Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca, N.Y. His personal Web site can be found at http://www.giganticom.com.

The fall class will convene on Aug. 30 and will meet on Thursdays from 5:30-8:10 p.m., in 12 O'Brian Hall on the UB North (Amherst) Campus. Textbooks will be available for purchase at the first class meeting. UB students who complete both classes for credit may use it to meet the College of Arts and Sciences language requirement.

Courses in intermediate and advanced classical Tibetan and in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy are also available by arrangement with the instructor.

For more information, including how to register for the course, contact Elizabeth Felmet, secretary of the Asian Studies Program, at 645-3474, ext. 2, or efelmet@buffalo.edu.