Often translated as ‘the science of healin g’ (sowa rigpa)\, Tibetan medicine is at once a diverse system of he aling with ancient roots extending out from the Tibetan Plateau and a moder n\, globalizing ‘alternative’ therapeutics. The contemporary practice of Ti betan medicine is enmeshed within multiple\, and sometimes conflicting\, ag endas: from the need to conserve medicinal plants on which Tibetan pharmaco logy depends\, to developing a Tibetan pharmaceutical industry as a method of economic development\; from the need to integrate with public health and forms of biomedicine to the need to retain its unique approach to healing. Practitioners strive to maintain the practice’s cultural authenticity\, in cluding connections to Tibetan Buddhism. At the same time\, Tibetan medicin e stakes claims as efficacious science through clinical research. Its thera pies are at once forms of cultural knowledge shared across generations and valuable commodities\, increasingly regulated by biomedical production stan dards\, intellectual property regimes\, and the desires of a consuming publ ic in Asia and beyond. This talk engages these points of tension\, discussi ng how Tibetan medicine remains at once a crucial form of local health care across Tibetan communities\, a manifestation of national identity\, and\, increasingly\, a globally available form of ‘traditional’ medicine in the 2 1st century.
This event is sponsored by the Himalaya Program\, th e Contemporary Tibetan Studies Program and the Department of Anthropology.< /em>
Sienna R. Crai g is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth College. She is the author of Healing Elements: Efficacy and the Social Ecologies of Tibetan Medicine (2012)\, and Horses Like Lightning: A Story of Passage through the Himalayas (2008)\, and co-editor of Med icine Between Science and Religion: Explorations on Tibetan Grounds (20 10). With Dr. Mark Turin\, she edits HIMALAYA. Craig is als o the co-founder of DROKPA\, which supports grassroots development efforts and soc ial entrepreneurship in the Himalaya.
LOCATION:Room 120\, C.K. Choi Building GEO:49.267258;-123.257967 URL;VALUE=URI:https://sppga.ubc.ca/events/event/the-science-of-healing-tibe tan-medicine-as-local-practice-national-heritage-and-global-brand/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sppga.cms.arts.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/01/alex-gorey-1135787-unsplash.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Vancouver BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 DTSTART:20161106T090000 TZNAME:PST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR