By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, July 20: Looking at the intersection of secular ethics, Middle Way Approach (MWA) and the Tibetan Nationalism in the schooling process, Dr. Ngawang Phuntsog, an associate professor at California State University at Fullerton, said that such nationalism based on altruism is unique to the Tibetans where sense of one’s victory over others do not exist.
“It is a fact that China has occupied Tibet but I found that curriculums in Tibetan schools in exile have adopted the concept of altruism rather than downgrading the image of China. So I feel it is a new sense of nationalism with unique qualities. So I felt the necessity of doing a research on it,” Dr. Phuntsog said during his talk on ‘Cultivating inclusive, compassionate Tibetan nationalism: Schooling passions in the Diaspora’ at Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Gangchen Kyishong on Wednesday.
The professor said he feels that Tibetan nationalism is in its infant or developing stage and that very little has been written on it compared to other nations.
“Even during our independence days, there was not much said about or written on nationalism. Lack of literatures and documents may have contributed to the development of nationalism in Tibet,” the professor said.
In his response to a question on recent self-immolation by a Tibetan student in Varanasi, he said, “Sense of nationalism can come from various places. Since Tibetans inside Tibet are suffering immensely under Chinese rule, it must be a reaction to the unbearable situation inside Tibet.”
With the first part of his research on senior CTA officials and setting up backgrounders finished, the next part, to be done in 2018, includes data collection through classroom observation, artifacts collection and interviews with students and teachers.
Tenzin Topjor, a Delhi University student said, “Despite being in its early stage of research, what I found most unique about the study was inclusive nationalism, encompassing Tibetan culture of altruism. Moreover, I feel that his research in schools will yield a comprehensive result.”
A Fulbright-Nehru fellow, Dr. Phuntsog hopes that by 2019 he would be able to conclude the research and see if secular ethics, MWA and Tibetan nationalism compliment or contradict each other based on the artifacts collected.
