Mountain Culture

Tibet 2008: At a Crossroads

Hot Topics: Noon-hour Seminar
Sunday, November 9, 12:30 – 1:45 p.m.
Max Bell Auditorium, Free

When the Chinese first bid for the 2008 summer Olympics, their pledge included plans to place the Olympic flame on the summit of Everest. During preparations for the high-altitude portion of the torch relay, the Chinese shut the Tibetan side of the mountain to climbers, and Nepal did the same on the south side. With no disruptions to block its path, the torch’s final ascent along Everest’s icy ridge was broadcast live and provided the Olympic organizers with a dramatic counterpoint to the deaths in Lhasa and the widespread pro-Tibet demonstrations taking place inside and outside Tibet.

While protests have always been part of the Olympics, many believe that this year’s incidents around Tibet are unprecedented, and place the Tibetan issue at a crossroads. Later this fall, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will convene an emergency general meeting to discuss the fundamental issues of Tibet. Our panelists have some shared and some diverging views about the present situation, about China’s Olympic bid pledge to improve human rights, and about the future outlook for this beloved home to the world’s tallest mountain.

Calgary-based Tibetan activist Nima Dorjee is president and one of the founding members of the Canada Tibet Committee as well as one of the founders and editors of World Tibet Network News. Former editor of the Alpine Journal, writer Ed Douglas covered China’s pre-Olympic crackdown in Tibet for National Geographic Adventure magazine and the UK’s The Observer. Banff-based Karen McDiarmid founded the Tara Cafe Project, working with Tibetans in exile and in Tibet in the areas of music, education, and mental health. Co-founder of the organization Machik, Losang Rabgey has found her life’s work in remote Tibetan villages of farmers, and nomads. Moderated by Don Hill.