Dan Hirshberg, Associate Teaching Professor in the Center for Asian Studies, teaches courses in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, often relying on聽high-impact practices and聽contemplative pedagogy.聽He completed his BA in Religion at Wesleyan University, his MA in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism (Shedra Track) at Naropa University, his PhD in Tibetan Studies at Harvard University, and has held fellowships at UC Santa Barbara, LMU Munich, and UVa鈥檚 Contemplative Sciences Center. Before moving to 麻豆影院, he was an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Mary Washington, where he designed and directed one of the first Contemplative Studies programs for undergrads, established a Japanese-style garden on campus, and led study abroad programs to Nepal and Japan. His research centers on cultural memory, the narrative of Tibet鈥檚 conversion to Buddhism, and the apotheosis of its protagonist, Padmasambhava, in literature and iconography. His first book,聽Remembering the Lotus-Born: Padmasambhava in the History of Tibet鈥檚 Golden Age聽(Wisdom Publications, Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, 2016), won Honorable Mention for the E. Gene Smith Book Prize from the Association for Asian Studies.