My current research explores how a generation of Tibetan scholars employed the Buddhist approach of skillful means to preserve and cultivate Tibetan Buddhism and language within the walls of China’s colonialism from 1950 to 1990. The publications, correspondences, and oral histories of these scholars provide significant contributions to our understanding of Buddhist Studies in the context of modernity, colonialism, and indigeneity.

I’m also exploring the history of science in Tibet, especially the importation of scientific knowledge and translation of scientific discoveries from the earliest contacts with the West through the early 20th century. The integration of scientific learning into Tibetan monastic studies reshaped the thousand-year-old tradition on the Tibetan plateau. This scholarship sets the stage for contemporary collaborations with cutting-edge scientific research at large.

Another area of research explores the importance of Himalayan networks in preserving and promoting Tibetan Buddhism in South Asia during the early 1960s. During my trip to northern India—visiting places such as Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Sikkim, and the Kathmandu valley in Nepal, I began to develop an interest in the role of transnational Himalayan networks in laying the groundwork for the revival of Tibetan Buddhism in South Asia, as well as its global expansion.