"Class preps students, community for Dalai Lama visit"

In preparation of the visit to UB by the Dalai Lama in September, "Tibet: Myth and Reality" was added to UB's class schedule this year and has quickly become a popular course.

"There are nearly 100 students registered for the course and, depending upon the topic and the weather conditions, some 30-50 community members who attend," said Stephen C. Dunnett, vice provost for international education and chair of the planning committee for the Dalai Lama's visit.

An interdisciplinary and social sciences course, "Tibet" is an introduction to the history, culture, politics and society of the home country of the 14th Dalai Lama. The first lecture of the series was last Wed., Feb. 8, with lectures open to the public every Wednesday in Knox Hall.

The lectures hope to explain the history and dynamic between China, Tibet and the Dalai Lama that has made his peace efforts so compelling. The People's Republic of China, which regards it as the Tibet Autonomous Region and considers it a province, officially rules Tibet. The Dalai Lama and his followers, however, claim they are the real government of Tibet and fled the country when China took over the region.

The Government of Tibet in Exile is a theocratic entity and also claims to be the country's legitimate government. As the head of the Government of Tibet in Exile, the Dalai Lama considers the Chinese government an illegal military occupation.

To balance the opinions of the Dalai Lama, two guest lecturers gave a view of "Tibet from the Perspective of China" in the first lecture. The lecturers were UB Professor Roger Des Forges and independent Buffalonian scholar Dr. Herbert Batt.

The lecture attracted community attendees like Philip and Jane Meech.

"I was anticipating putting the Dalai Lama within a real world perspective, whereas (my wife) is fascinated with the idea that all spirituality is an export of India," Philip said. "The conflict between needing an army to protect a real world nation state, depending on other countries for force during military turmoil, and the Dalai Lama leaving for India in times of real world adversity has been wonderfully brought out in the two lectures we have attended so far," said Meech.

Professor Roger Des Forges, who began last Wednesday's lecture, is an expert on China, and has his graduate education in Asian Studies and Chinese History at Yale. He wrote his first book on the early 20th-century Chinese ruler Qing's policy toward Tibet.

He explained during his lecture that although Tibetans may have claimed independence 30 years ago, China has been around for a thousand.

"Communist China's claims (on Tibet) were not baseless," Des Forges said.

During the lecture, he reviewed some of the history of Tibet and the People's Republic of China, explaining how the Dalai Lama sent messages to Chinese government, asking that they respect Tibetan religion and culture, but they were ignored.

"Chairman Mao is regarded as a moderate on Tibet, and I believe it is one of the very few things that he is regarded as a moderate on," Des Forges said, referring to Mao Zedong, the notorious Chairman of the People's Republic of China.

"His position was that they should in fact try to integrate Tibet into the new state without challenging the Dalai Lama," he said. "This was the first mistake the government made, as it was the first time that the government accepted the culture of a minority group."

Des Forges gave a descriptive lecture on the history between the Chinese and the Tibetans, and sporadically offered his own point of view.

"My point of view is that (the United States) getting out (of Tibet) was probably wise." He also said that if the Dalai Lama became dependent on the Unites States for military support, it would have a negative effect on the independence of Tibet.

Sean Anzalone, freshman biochemical pharmacology major, said that he enjoyed the lecture series but felt that the Chinese perspective was not fully existent.

"I couldn't really see that much of a Chinese perspective there. It seems more of an interpretation of what's coming out recently," he said. "They're taking (the Chinese) in more of a modern sense than a historical sense."

Different speakers as well as different viewpoints were available Wednesday night. Dunnett expressed his satisfaction with the diversity of lecturers.

"I am very pleased with the great variety of speakers, from historians to religious leaders and experts on Buddhism. Some are really remarkable persons, for example, the chief translator of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's writings and also his interpreter will lecture in the course later in March."

"Students everywhere are much interested in non-Western religions, especially Buddhism. And the Dalai Lama is a world figure whose philosophy of non-violent resolution to conflict resonates, especially at this moment in our history. I believe people are interested in exploring other ways to resolve disagreements than by dropping bombs on those we have issues with," Dunnett said.

Martin McGee, member of the community as well as the Planning Committee, also had good things to say about the lectures, as well as future plans in expectation of the Dalai Lama's visit.

"UB has done a tremendous job of planning a full spectrum of activities including lectures, films, and courses that give background and depth to the Dalai Lama's highly anticipated upcoming fall visit," McGee said. "As a non-UB community person and long time Tibetan human rights activist, I've been overwhelmingly impressed with the degree of planning and the quality of programming at every level."

"I believe that our collective efforts could result in one of the best coordinated, quality schedules of activities ever mounted around a visit by the Dalai Lama anywhere in the world," he added. "I'm confident that this visit by one of the most loved and respected spiritual leaders in the world will be one of the proudest moments Western New York has ever had."