New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to have a Centre for Tibetan Studies and Mother Teresa Chair. Both the institutes will set up in order to promote knowledge in Buddhist culture and Philanthropy, respectively. On Monday i.e. February 7, 2011, an IGNOU official said that the new institutions will come up in the School of Social Work at the university.
As per sources, the Centre for Tibetan Studies intends to maintain the Tibetan culture in India and Nepal, as the culture is dying out from the nations. The center will do so by contributing to the theoretical knowledge and practical training in Tibetan Buddhist scholarly traditions for international students, scholars and general public, sources added.
In addition, sources told that the centre will launch BA, MA, M Phil and PhD programmes in Tibetan studies, Buddhist philosophy and Theology. Further, sources speak about the Mother Teresa Chair and told that it will endorse socially relevant programmes in the area of Philanthropy and inter-religious studies.
The Chair will begin with extension activities targeting the HIV infected, leprosy patients, street children, refugees, destitutes and other vulnerable population, sources informed. Moreover, sources told that the chair will offer training and skill development programmes. The programmes are being offered for socio-economic development of weak sections of the society, sources added. The Mother Teresa Chair will organize training workshops, seminars and conferences on socially relevant topics, to serve the aforesaid purpose.
