The Concordia Tibetan Language and Culture Summer Programme at Shenten Dargye Ling offers students of all academic levels the unique opportunity to acquire Tibetan language skills and to learn about, and experience, Tibetan religion, history and culture firsthand as participants in an active Tibetan monastic community located in the scenic Loire Valley in France. Students will be instructed in two courses by Concordia staff and world-renowned experts in Tibetan religion and society as well as by academically qualified, native Tibetan-speaking members of Shenten monastery. The monks of Shenten Dargye Ling are followers of the minority Bön religion of Tibet.
The Concordia Tibetan Language and Culture Summer Program consists of two, three-credit courses over a period of four weeks:
- Course A: Tibetan language (with focus on the grammar of Spoken Tibetan and Classical Literary Tibetan)
- Course B: Alternative Voices from Tibet and the Himalayas (history of Tibet told by non Buddhist minorities, indigenous beliefs, and the performance of rituals)
Students will have the option of taking part in the activities that make up the daily routine of the monastery, such as early morning and evening meditation sessions, afternoon smoke-offering rituals, and teachings about aspects of spiritual practice, philosophy and Tibetan medicine delivered by Tibetan lamas as well as local cultural excursions in the Loire Valley.
Situated 15 kilometres from the town of Saumur, in France’s Loire Valley, the Tibetan monastic community of Shenten Dargye Ling is recognized by the French Ministry of Interior as a Religious Congregation; its community comprises lay practitioners as well as ordained monks and nuns.
For more information and how to apply: https://www.concordia.ca/students/exchanges/field-schools/tibetan-language-and-culture.html
Contact : J.F. Marc des Jardins - Associate Professor, Religions and Cultures - (514) 848-2424 ext. 5732 - marc.desjardins@concordia.ca
