Cultural Change and Influence among Ethnic Groups in Kang District, Tibet

Date: Thursday 29 September 2011 Time: 12 noon

Location: 18 Kelburn Parade Room 204, Kelburn Campus, Victoria University

Speaker: Dr Siwen Tao, China Centre Visiting Fellow, Associate Professor, Institute of Ethnic Research, Southwest University for Nationalities, China

This seminar looks at the close mutual interaction between Han culture and Tibetan culture in the Kangba area of Tibet. Because of the influence of factors such as geography, the center of Tibetan culture has gradually shifted to the east of Tibet. Moreover, the Kangba area has been a key area designated by the Chinese government for cultural integration in areas of mixed ethnic and cultural populations. All of this makes the cultural landscape in the Kangba area more important for us to understand the modern development of Tibetan culture and state-ethnic relations in China. Through the case study of the cultural landscape in Kangba, the seminar will discuss cultural change in Tibet, Han-Tibetan cultural interaction, exchange and mutual impact, and the politics of multiethnic and multicultural society.