Berthe Jansen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies.

More information about Berthe Jansen

Fields of interest

My fields of interest include Tibetan language, literature, religion, and history and how these affected and still affect Tibetan societies. My interests range widely from Tibetan oral traditions and folk culture to Buddhist philosophy, social and legal history, and heritage studies. I wrote my MPhil thesis on Tibetan wedding recitations, which is entitled: ‘A Tibetan Nuptial Oratory Tradition: the Molla from Dingri.’ (2010) My dissertation (submission date: November, 2014; date of defence: February 24, 2015), The Monastery Rules: Buddhist Monastic Organization in Pre-modern Tibet, focuses on pre-modern Tibetan monastic institutions and issues of social justice. This research concentrates on textual sources but is complemented by oral history based on fieldwork. I currently work as a post-doc within the VICI project Buddhism and Social Justice (January 2015- June 2015). This project is called ‘Law and Order during the Great Prayer Festival ( sMon lam chen mo)’ and looks at the legal status and activities of monks in Lhasa during a festival in Lhasa in the 17 ^th and 18 ^th centuries. Together with Jonathan Silk I am in the process of editing the proceedings of the conference ‘Buddhism and Social Justice’.

Education

• 2015 (Jan.)-present: post-doc in the VICI project Buddhism and Social Justice
• 2010-2015: PhD candidate in the VICI project Buddhism and Social Justice
• 2008-2010: MPhil with distinction in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at Oxford University
• 2005-2008: BA in Languages and Cultures of India and Tibet at Leiden University
• 2003-2005: Tibetan language and interpreting with distinction at the Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Programme, India
• 2000-2003: Courses in Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan language at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, India

CV (in pdf)

Publications