William Magee, Ph.D.

billmagee@gmail.com

http://elib.ddbc.edu.tw/~magee

January, 2008

Education

Ph.D. (1998) History of Religions, University of Virginia. Primary concentration: Tibetan and Indian Buddhist Studies. Secondary concentration: Hinduism. Dissertation: "Tradition and Innovation in the Consequence School: svabhava in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism." (Advisor: Jeffrey Hopkins)

M.A.  (1989) History of Religions, University of Virginia. Buddhist Studies.

B.A.   (1971) English Literature, Lynchburg College. Minor concentration: Theater.

Employment

2003-           Assistant Professor, Dharma Drum Buddhist College (formerly the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies), Taiwan. I advise graduate students, carry a full research and teaching schedule, and serve as the Editor of the Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal.

2003-2007   Lecturer on Tibetan Buddhism for Dharma Drum Mountain's School of Continuing Education, Taipei, Taiwan.

2000-2002   Director, the Yaxche Learning Center, a private, multi-cultural elementary school serving fifty underprivileged children in Taos, New Mexico. I redesigned the curriculum and recruited, interviewed, and hired faculty. I recruited new students from the Taos Pueblo. I was responsible for all academic and admin­istrative aspects of the school, including a yearly $600,000 budget.

1998-2000   Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

1996-1998   Instructor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, James Madison University:

1996             Instructor, Department of Religion, Sweet Briar College:

Fall 1995      Visiting Instructor, Department of Religion, Washington and Lee University:

Fall 1993      Instructor, Department of Religion and Philosophy, Ithaca College:

1988-2000   Faculty, Summer Foreign Language Institute at the University of Virginia:

Introduction to Literary and Spoken Tibetan - an intensive graduate-level course introducing students to the Tibetan language in its written and spoken forms. In thirteen years, this course trained hundreds of students from graduate and undergraduate programs around the world.

1992-1993   Translator and language instructor, the Dalai Lama's Namgyal Institute, Ithaca, NY.

Academic Publications

The Nature of Things: Emptiness and Essence in the Geluk World  (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2000).

Co-author (with Elizabeth Napper): Fluent Tibetan: A Proficiency-Oriented Learning System. In four volumes, 1000 pages with tapes (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 1993; second printing, 1996). Digital version on CDROM.

"Two Faces of Religious Charisma in Fifteenth-Century Tibet," in Fifteenth-Century Studies (Vol. XXV, 1999).

"Materialism and the Immaterial Mind in Geluk Buddhism," in Leonardo Electronic Almanac (Vol. XI, 2, Summer 2003). Nominated for Leonardo Excellence Award.

"Expressing the Fallacy from the Viewpoint of a Pervader: Nagarjuna and the Putative Consequences of svabhava," in Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal (Vol. 17; Summer, 2004).

"Three Modes of Teaching Collected Topics," in Proceedings of the Symposium on Contemporary Tibetan Studies (Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, Taiwan.
Spring 2004).

"Geshe Tashi Tsering and the Chenrezig Institute." Mandala (February, 2004).

"The Role of Reasoning in Meditation." Mandala (April, 2005).

"A Controversy Unveiled: How Many Sutra Passages Are Indicated as Requiring Interpretation in Candrakirti's Madhyamakavatarabhasya?" in Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal (Vol. 18; Summer, 2005).

"The Tibetan World View and the Wheel of Life" Religions of the World ed. Edward Irons (New York: Facts On File, 2005).

"A Tree in the West: Competing tathagatagarbha Theories in Tibetan Buddhism," in Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal (Vol. 19; Summer, 2006).

"Structuring Reality: the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and the Treatise on the Middle," in Studia Orientalia Tartuensia, Series Nova (vol. 3, 2008).

"Does Candrakirti Assert 'Non-dependence on Another' To Be the Object To Be Negated in the View of Emptiness?" in Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal (forthcoming Summer, 2008).

Structuring Reality: Nga-wang-bel-den and the Consequentialists of India and Tibet (forthcoming from Snow Lion Publications, 2008).

Published Fiction

She Still Lives. A novel about Tibet (Snow Lion Publications, 2006).

Colombo and the Samurai Sword (New York: Detective Book Club, 1980). A detective novel commissioned by the Detective Book Club and MCI-Universal Studios.

"Crossing the James" Harper's Weekly. February, 1976. A short story.

Current Research

My current research involves comparing philosophical assertions found in recently discovered texts of Tibet's Jo-nang School with descriptions of this school by their fifteenth- to seven­teenth-century Ge-luk-ba critics. I am also developing an online digital Tibetan language learning system called "Future Tibetan: a Distributed Digital Learning Program." 

Fellowships, Grants, and Appointments

2007             Editor-in-Chief, the Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal.

2007             Editor, the Proceedings of the Fifth Internation Chung-Hwa Conference.

2006             "Hopkins Tibetan Treasures Multimedia Research Archive." Two-year Taiwan National Digital Archive Grant.

2005             Editorial Board, Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal.

2003             Director, Summer Tibetan Language Program, Tibet House, New York.

2003             FPMT one-year translation grant.

2001             Distance Learning Development Grant from the State of North Carolina.

2001             Board of Directors, Junior Achievement of New Mexico.

2000             Director, the Dharma Farm Asian Language Institute.

1999             Board of Advisors, Journal of Fifteenth-Century Studies.

1996             Outreach Grant from the Center for South Asia at the University of Virginia.

1992-1993   Visiting East Asia Fellow, Cornell University.

1990-92       Project Director of a two-year International Research and Studies Program grant from the Department of Education to design, write, and publish Fluent Tibetan: A Proficiency-Oriented Learning System. In four volumes with accompanying audio tapes.

1989-90       Researched, authored, and implemented first national standard Tibetan oral proficiency evaluation exams at the University of Virginia for the Center for South Asia on a grant from the Department of Education.

1989             Researched and authored Tibetan language oral proficiency guidelines for the Center for South Asia on a grant from the Department of Education.

1988             Appointed Core Faculty in the Center for South Asia at the University of Virginia, Tibetan Language.

1985-88       Four consecutive NDEA Title VI National Resource Fellowships in Tibetan language.

Presentations

2007             "The Sounds of Wisdom: Tibetan Orality and the Hopkins Tibetan Treasures Multimedia Research Archive." Chung-hwa International Faculty Conference, November, 2007.

2006             "Why Write Buddhist Fiction?" Chung-hwa Student-Faculty Conference, December, 2006.

2006             "Does Candrakirti Assert 'Non-dependence on Another' To Be the Object To Be Negated in the View of Emptiness?" Chung-hwa International Faculty Conference, November, 2006.

2006             "The Hopkins Multimedia Tibetan Research Archive." Presented at the Academica Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (April, 2006).

2005             "The Hopkins Multimedia Tibetan Research Archive." Presented at the University of Virginia Conference in Honor of Professor Jeffrey Hopkins (April, 2005).

2005             "Tibetan Buddhism and the English Language." A series of lectures sponsored by Dharma Drum Mountain Foundation, Taipei.

2004             "A Controversy Unveiled: Sutra Passages Indicated to be Interpretable in the Madhyamakavatarabhashya of Candrakirti." Chung-hwa International Faculty Conference, November, 2004.

2003             "Three Modes of Teaching Collected Topics." Paper presented at the "Symposium on Contemporary Tibetan Studies," Taiwan.

2003             "Dzong-ka-ba on Death and Emptiness." A series of public talks sponsored by the Chenrezig Institute, Queensland, Australia.

2002             "Identifying Isolates." Lecture sponsored by the Instituti Lama Tsongkhapa, Pomaia, Italy.

2002             "Gandhi and the Religious Ethic of Satyagraha." Talk sponsored by the Taos, New Mexico, Community Against Violence.

2002             "Human Commonality in Tibetan Buddhism." Colloquium sponsored by the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

2001             "Tibetan Buddhism: A Union of the Practice of Sutra and Tantra." Colloquium sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2001             "Teaching About Tibet for K-12 Social Studies Educators." North Carolina Conference of Teachers of Social Studies.

2000             "Nagarjuna and the Putative Consequences of svabhava." Colloquium sponsored by UNCG Department of Religious Studies.

1999             "Lang-ri Thang-ba on Training the Mind." Interfaith Speaker Series, Pfeiffer University.

1999             "Tibetan Dialectical Debate." With Professors Joe Wilson and Daniel Perdue. Colloquium sponsored by UNCG Department of Religious Studies.

1997             "Cultural Implications of Tibetan Buddhism." Faculty Development Workshop, Piedmont Virginia Community College. Sponsored by the Center for South Asia.

1996             "Ten Uncommon Assumptions of Tibetan Buddhism." Mini-Course for Educators, U.Va. Richmond Center. Sponsored by the U.Va. Center for South Asia.

1995             "Buddhism: the Adopted Religion of Tibet." Festival of Tibet Lecture Series, sponsored by the Department of Religion, Shenandoah University.

1994             "External, Internal, and Secret Practices in Tibetan Religions." Northern Virginia Community College. Sponsored by the U.Va. Center for South Asia.

1993             "Three Principle Aspects of the Path According to Je Dzong-ka-ba." State University of New York, Oneonta. LaFrance Psychology and Religion Lecture Series.

1993             "Tathagatagarbha in the Four Schools of Tibetan Buddhism." Cornell University, East Asia Visiting Fellow Lecture Series.

1992             "Human Rights Violations in Tibet and U.S. Foreign Policy Towards the People's Republic of China." Grinnell College, The Rosenfield Lecture Series.

1989             "A Controversy in Tibet Regarding Sutra Passages Indicated as Interpretable in Chandrakirti's Madhyamakavatarabhashya." Georgetown University, Mid-Atlantic Regional meeting of the Association for Asian Studies.

Fieldwork and Professional Development

2003             Tutor for the Chenrezig Institute course on "Buddhist Grounds and Paths." I translated the Tibetan text and gave six weeks of tutorials.

2001-2002   Director of the Agama Foundation, Taos, NM: a non-profit charity providing assistance to the Native Americans of the Taos Pueblo.

1999-2000   Undergraduate Advisor for the Dean's Office, UNCG.

1999-2000   Founder and faculty advisor for the student group Ahimsa, dedicated to the eradication of landmines.

1992-93       Translator and language instructor at the Dalai Lama's Namgyal Institute in Ithaca, NY. While employed at Namgyal, I pursued my doctoral research with lama-in-residence Geshe Rapgye of Sera Monastic College.

Fall 1988     American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) Oral Proficiency Rater Certification Workshop, Brandeis University (leading to DOE-IRSP grant).

1985             Research and language study at the School of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India. Geluk epistemology and Tibetan dialectical debates.

Languages

English, French, Tibetan, Mandarin (intermediate colloquial), Sanskrit.