Boosting science, math, technology, and ethics in Tibetan communities
To many Westerners, science, monks, and technology may not be an obvious trio. But to Tenzin Prayadarshi and others at MIT’s Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values, they are a means of improving the lives of Tibetans dispersed throughout India and elsewhere.The program, called the Science, Monks and Technology Leadership Program, was launched a year ago to help members of the Tibetan diaspora find solutions to the challenges they face in some of India’s poorest regions. For example, the program has produced the first of a planned series of science centers — a simple concrete building outfitted with computers and online access — in an area where most people lack electricity or piped water. There, students and monks will be able to learn from materials such as lectures on MIT’s OpenCourseWare (with added Tibetan subtitles). The center is expected to reach full operation by this summer.“We’ll be using...