FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14

The Revival of Buddhism in Mongolia in the Context of Post-Socialist Society

Organized by

Julian Dierkes & Tsering Shakya

Buddhism and Contemporary Society Program

Institute of Asian Research & Department of Asian Studies

Supported by the

Tung Lin Kok Yuen Canada Foundation

Conference Room (#120), CK Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research, 1855 West Mall, UBC Campus

10 - 10:30a      Welcome and Introduction

10:30a - 12p    Mongolian Buddhism: The Past and the Future

Session Chair: Julian Dierkes, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Canada

Matthew King, University of Toronto, Canada

“Finding the Buddha Hidden Below the Sand: Dynamics and Complexity in the Revivalism of Mongolian Buddhism”

Zsuzsa Majer, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary

“Present-day Mongolian Buddhist Temples: Continuation or Disjuncture with the Past and the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition”

12 - 1:30p    Lunch

1:30 - 3p    The Context of Contemporary Religiosity in Mongolia

Session Chair: Elena Feditchkina, Political Science, University of British Columbia, Canada

Johan Elverskog, Southern Methodist University, USA

“Theorizing Christianity in Mongolia” 

Mátyás Balogh, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary

“Ways of Practicing Shamanism in Mongolia” 

3 - 3:30p    Coffee

3:30 - 5:00p    The Complexity of the Buddhist Revival in Mongolia

Session Chair: Tsering Shakya, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Canada

Krisztina Teleki, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary

“Building on Ruins, Memories and Persistence: Revival and Survival of Buddhism in the Countryside” 

Marie-Dominique Even, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France

“Religious Pluralism versus Cultural Identity in Mongolia”

Conference Room, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 6331 Crescent Road, UBC Campus

6 - 7:30p    Keynote Address

Morris Rossabi, Columbia University, USA

“Modern Mongolia: The Contemporary Descendants of the Khans and the Revival of Buddhism”

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Conference Room, Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, 6331 Crescent Road, UBC Campus

10a – 12p    Mongolia’s Continuing Transitions

Session Chair: Marcia Frost, East Asian Studies & Economics, Wittenberg University, USA

Christopher Kaplonski, Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge, UK

“Forgetting the Lamas: The Politicization of Death in Post-socialist Mongolia”

Sarah Combellick-Bidney, Political Science, University of Indiana, USA

“We Would Not Choose These Terms: Mongolia’s Mining Controversy and the Politics of Place”

MUNGUNSARNAI Ganbold, Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency, Mongolia, and Thomas Spoorenberg, Economic History, University of Geneva, Switzerland

“Did the Social and Economic Transition Cause a Health Crisis in Mongolia? Evidence from Age-, Sex- and Cause-Specific Mortality Trends (1965-2007)” 

12 - 1:30p    Lunch

1:30 – 3:30p    Mongolia’ s Continuing Transitions (Cont.)

Session Chair: Charles Krusekopf, Environment and Sustainability, Royal Roads University, Canada

Troy Sternberg, Geography, Oxford University, UK

“Twilight of Mongolian Pastoralism?”

BORCHULUUN Yadamsuren, Information Science and Learning Technologies, University of Missouri, USA, and Catherine Johnson, Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, Canada

“From Socialism to Democracy:  Effects of Transition on the Perception of the Role of Libraries in Mongolia” 

Paula Sabloff, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, USA

“Democracy and Risk” 

3:30 - 4p    Coffee

4 – 5:30p    Mongolians’ Interaction with their Physical Environment

Session Chair: Cliff Montage, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, USA

Raffael Himmelsbach, Political Science, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

“Collaborative Pasture Management, a Solution for Grassland Degradation in Mongolia?” 

TEMUULEN Tsagaan Sankey, Geographic Information Systems, Idaho State University, USA, Keith Weber, Geographic Information Systems, Idaho State University, USA, and Joel Sankey, Geosciences, Idaho State University, USA

“Changes in Pastoral Use and Their Effects on Rangeland Productivity”

5:45 - 7p    Film Screening

Gaëlle Lacaze "Ballad of the Trader", 59 min. DVD, colour, 2005, Mongolian, Kazakh and Russian / English subtitles.