In 2012, there was an intensification of protest and a sharp increase in the number of self-immolations by Tibetans, a response to the continued annexation of their homeland by the People’s Republic of China. Tibet observers and analysts cite six decades of human rights violations and cultural and religious repression as some of the main causes. The panel will discuss human rights, the possibility for Tibetan autonomy or independence, and ways the world community can help Tibet to shape its future.

Lobsang Nyandak, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Americas

Tendor, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet

Robert Thurman, PhD, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University and President of Tibet House US

Robert Barnett, Director, Weatherhead East Asia Institute, Modern Tibet Studies Program, Columbia University

Ming Xia, Professor of Political Science, City University 

of New York