Tibetan and Himalayan Library - THL

People in THL: Georges Dreyfus

Georges studied for fifteen years in Tibetan monastic universities in India and was the first European-born recipient of the title of Geshé. He then earned a doctorate in Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia before joining the faculty of Williams College, where he is a professor in the Department of Religion. His first book, Recognizing Reality: Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations (Albany: SUNY Press, 1997), deals with the Tibetan reception of Buddhist epistemology. He has also written on Madhyamaka Philosophy, co-editing with Sara McClintock The Svatantrika-Prasangika Distinction (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003). His most recent work, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003), reflects in a partly autobiographical mode on the education of Tibetan monks and the intellectual practices that foster this education.

Within THL, Georges is director of the Drepung Monastery Project and is a contributor to the Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies.

Location:Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA

Role in THL:Scholar, Fieldworker

Organizations:

• Williams College: Professor of Religion