Cultural Restoration and Service-Learning in Mongolia

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In June 2004, Pace University in New York organized its first international service-learning program to Mongolia. In cooperation with the Cultural Restoration Tourism Project (CRTP), a San Francisco-based NGO, students who registered for a regular course focusing on the history of Tibetan Buddhism had a chance to help restore a Tibetan Buddhist monastery at Baldan Baraivan, located 300 km east of the Mongolian capital of Ulaan Baatar. This lecture discusses the merits and limitations of this international service-learning experience for enhancing American undergraduate students’ understanding of Tibetan Buddhist culture and Mongolian society. It proposes an integrated pedagogy that combines academic focus on Inner Asian history and Tibetan Buddhism with student volunteerism in a cross-cultural setting.

Author Bio

Presented By:

Joseph Tse-Hei Lee is an Associate Professor of History at Pace University. Dr. Lee earned his B.A. Honors, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of London in England.

Dr Lee is the author of The Bible and the Gun: Christianity in South China, 1860-1900 (New York and London: Routledge, 2003). He has also published numerous journal articles and book chapters on the church-state relations in modern China, Chinese diasporas in Southeast Asia, and the Sino-American relations. His most recent publications include the following:

● “Watchman Nee and the Little Flock Movement in Maoist China.” Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 74, no.1 (March 2005): 68-96. ● “Christianity in Contemporary China: An Update.” Journal of Church and State 49, no.2 (Spring 2007): 277-304. ● “Christianity and Chinese Diaspora in the Nineteenth Century.” In Chinese Diaspora since Admiral Zheng He, edited by Leo Suryadinata (Singapore: Chinese Heritage Centre, 2007): 247-266. ● “(Coauthored with Amy Lee) The Korean Military Brides in New York.” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 8, no.3 (September 2007): 458-465


Presented By:

Ronald K. Frank is coordinator of East Asian Studies Program at the History Department of Pace University in New York. Dr. Frank is a specialist on Japanese Legal History with a focus on the Sengoku and Meiji periods