The Dalai Lama Fellowship for Nalanda Studies focuses on devoted study of the Nalanda traditions in order to offer penetrating insights on its relevance while addressing contemporary predicaments.
The Fellows’ extensive exploration of their research topics culminated in the submission of monographs. Augmenting their capacities as ‘future teachers’ and expanding the horizons of their own learning, the Fellows have shared their research and lectured at various universities. The 2022 Fellows successfully presented their work in October.
Dr. Rinku Lamba
Associate Professor, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru
A Study of the Influences of the Nalanda Tradition on Tagore & Shantiniketan
This project is an exploration of Tagore’s social and political thought as laid out in The Religion of Man, especially on his conception of religion and its role in forging normatively appropriate relations among diverse persons and groups. The study will examine concepts such as interrelationship, unity, action, service as they appear in Tagore’s writing.
Rinku Lamba earned her PhD in Political Science from University of Toronto, Canada for her thesis titled Religious Minorities, the Postcolonial State and the Politics of Non-Domination. She completed her Masters in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University and M.Phil from Baliol College, University of Oxford. She was the recipient of Inlaks Scholarship and was invited as a Lansdowne Visiting Scholar at the Religious Study Program at the University of Victoria. She teaches at the Centre for Political Studies in the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Dr. Amrita Nandy
Adjunct Lecturer, Ambedkar University Delhi
Employing Values and Ideas of the Nalanda Tradition to Examine the Relationship between Feminist Activism & Spirituality in Contemporary Urban India
Amrita Nandy intends to study how feminist-spiritual practitioners deploy Buddhist wisdom in their actual encounters with the political. Her project will focus on showcasing how cross-pollination between (feminist) activism and spirituality is possible, unlike the prevalent view that the two exist in a state of contradiction.
Amrita Nandy completed her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University and MSc. in Women’s Studies from University of Oxford.
She was the Fox International Fellow at Yale University from 2013 to 2014. She is the author of Motherhood and Choice. Uncommon Mothers, Childfree Women, published by Zubaan books and New Text.
Saheli Pal
Visual Artist
Serenity in the World of Chaos: Buddhist Perspectives on Life
The project contains a series of artworks depicting the role of Buddhism in living a life of serenity amidst the chaotic World. It emphasises on the lives of those who had taken refuge into the three jewels — Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and the subjects of each artwork will be Buddhist practitioners, starting from the toddler to the aged monk. Capturing this emotion of serenity in the life of the dharma practitioners through visual medium is the prime object of the proposed project
Capturing this emotion of serenity in the life of the dharma practitioners through visual medium is the prime object of the proposed project.
Saheli Pal received B.Tech in Information Technology from West Bengal University Of Technology and M.Sc in Human Rights from Calcutta University. She has completed her 4th year-diploma in Fine Arts from Chandigarh University and received diploma in ‘Appreciation of Indian Art’ from Ramakrishna Mission. She has been a recipient of a grant by ICCR ( Indian Council for Cultural Relations), Ministry of External Affairs and was a selected Artist of Bangladesh Biennale(2018), Florence Biennale (2019) and Argentina Biennale (2020).