Matthew Kapstein
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Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
an religions,
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the
University of Chicago Divinity School The University of Chicago Divinity School is a private graduate institution at the University of Chicago dedicated to the training of academics and clergy across religious boundaries. Formed under Baptist auspices, the school today lacks any s ...
, and Director of Tibetan Studies at the École pratique des hautes études.


Education and career

Kapstein graduated from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...
with a bachelor's degree in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
in 1981. He completed his Ph.D. at
Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
in 1987 under the direction of James Van Cleve. He joined the faculty of the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1986. In 2002 he moved to the Centre de recherche sur les civilisations asiatiques et orientales of the École pratique des hautes études in Paris, retaining a position at Chicago as Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies. He has been a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
since 2018, and is one of four co-editors of the journal '' History of Religions''.


Books

Kapstein is the author of: * ''Tibetan Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2014. * ''Buddhism Between Tibet and China'', Wisdom Publications, 2009. * ''The Tibetans'', Malden, MA, USA. Blackwell Publishing. , 2006. * ''The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation, and Memory'',
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
, 2002. * ''Reason's Traces: Identity and Interpretation in Indian & Tibetan Buddhist Thought'', Wisdom Publications, 2001. He is the translator or editor of: * ''Sources of Tibetan Tradition'' (edited with Kurtis R. Schaeffer and Gray Tuttle, Introduction to Asian Civilizations), Columbia University Press, 2013. * ''New Studies in the Old Tibetan Documents: Philology, History and Religion'' (edited with Yoshiro Imaeda and Tsuguhito Takeuchi, Old Tibetan Documents Online Monograph Series III), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2011. * ''Mahāmudrā and the Kagyü Tradition'' (edited with Roger R. Jackson), International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, 2011. * ''Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang: Rites and Teachings for This Life and Beyond'' (edited with Sam van Schaik), Brill, 2010. * ''The Rise of Wisdom Moon'' (by Krishna mishra, edited and translated by Kapstein, Clay Sanskrit Library), New York University Press, 2009. * ''Contributions to the Cultural History of early Tibet'' (edited with Brandon Dotson, Volume 14 of Brill's Tibetan studies library), Brill, 2007. * ''The Presence of Light: Divine Radiance and Religious Experience'',
University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...
, 2004. * ''The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History'' (by Dudjom Rinpoche, translated and edited with Gyurme Dorje), Wisdom Publications, 2002. * ''Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet: religious revival and cultural identity'' (edited with Melvyn C. Goldstein),
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...
, 1998.Reviews of ''Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet'': * * * * * * * * * * ''Soundings in Tibetan Civilization'' (edited with Barbara N. Aziz), Vajra Books, 1985.


References


External links


Home page at University of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapstein, Matthew 1949 births Living people American Indologists Tibetologists University of California, Berkeley alumni Brown University alumni University of Chicago faculty École pratique des hautes études faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences