Since 2011, the UCI-Tibet Initiative (UCI-TI) has welcomed 29 Visiting Scholars to the UCI campus, offering them a unique opportunity to increase their English language capacity while immersed on the beautiful campus of the University of California, Irvine. However, in 2020 and 2021, UCI-TI was indefinitely suspended due to COVID-19. During this time, we’ve been hard at work laying the groundwork for a new chapter in our story.
Kamalashila Initiative (KI) is an aspiring new organization and currently a fiscally sponsored project of the Ngari Institute Foundation.
Formerly known as the UCI-Tibet Initiative (UCI-TI), KI’s Visiting Scholars Program brings Buddhist scholars from monastic institutions in India to the US for an intensive 10-week ESL (English as a Second Language) course, in partnership with the University of California, Irvine. This immersion and cultural exchange program offers Visiting Scholars a unique opportunity to improve their English language skills and gain exposure to western academic life. The ultimate objective: to contribute to His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama’s vision of modernizing education at Buddhist monastic institutions. In return, Visiting Scholars offer the local community insights on how to enrich their spiritual and emotional wellbeing through meditation practice and the cultivation of altruism.
Today, the Kamalashila Initiative is excited to announce that it aims to invite 3 Visiting Scholars to the UCI campus this Spring 2022! However, after years of sustained funding from UCI, this support is no longer available.
Please consider donating to help fund the 2022 Visiting Scholars Program by clicking HERE! Your donation will be a tax-deductible gift and will directly support the program by funding things like the Visiting Scholars’ tuition, housing, and meal plans. Tashi Delek and Tu Che Che!
