Lawrence Archaeological Lecture Looks At Influences on Tibetan Buddhism

APPLETON, WIS. -- The influence of the famed "silk road" on the Buddhist monastic and temple institutions of western Tibet will be examined in an Archaeological Institute of America lecture at Lawrence University.

Mark Aldenderfer, professor of anthropology at the University of California-Santa Barbara, presents the slide-illustrated lecture, "Silk Road and Diamond Path: The Archaeology of Buddhism in Tibet," Monday, April 30 at 7:30 p.m. in Lawrence's Wriston Art Center auditorium. An informal reception will follow the address, which is free and open to the public.

A specialist in the archaeology of central Asia, Aldenderfer will discuss how the changing flow of goods and ideas along the silk route between the 10th and 16th centuries impacted the historical development of Tibetan Buddhism. He also will trace the wealth that supported the monastic Tibetan communities as well as the origins of many of the communities' intellectual accomplishments.

Aldenderfer has taught at UC-Santa Barbara since 1989 after spending six years in the anthropology department at Northwestern University. He earned his Ph.D. in anthropology at Penn State University.