Academic Research Program Initiative (ARPI)

15 January 2016

Photo: ARPI

Ever since the establishment of the Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS), it has never lost sight of three of its main objectives and activities namely, (a) to train students to investigate Tibetan Buddhist texts using historical-philological tools and techniques, (b) to promote and establish cooperation between the Center and international institutions and scholars, particularly from the target regions (Tibet/China, India, Nepal, and Bhutan), and (c) to develop and support research projects with a focus on Tibetan Buddhist textual studies. The “Academic Research Program Initiative” (ARPI), funded by the Khyentse Foundation (ARPI-I: three years between 2015–2020; ARPI-II: four years between 2020–2024), is a direct outcome of the workshops conducted in South Asia by the Center since its foundation. ARPI has been conceived with the sole aim of training traditional Buddhist monk and nun scholars in pursuing modern academic (i.e. historical-philological) study of Tibetan Buddhist texts and ideas and helping to establish research centers within Tibetan Buddhist monastic institutions that will operate independently, on the one hand, and create an environment for fruitful collaboration between traditional and modern scholars from western universities, on the other. The activities of the ARPI are being carried out under the auspices of the Khyentse Center.