dan.hirshberg@colorado.edu
Dan Hirshberg, PhD is the Tibetan Studies Instructor in the Center for Asian Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Having practiced and studied Buddhist contemplative traditions for nearly three decades, he has accumulated thousands of hours of formal meditation practice, hundreds of hours of formal teaching experience, traveled extensively throughout Asia, and completed his PhD in Inner Asian and Altaic Studies at Harvard University. After his PhD, he held year-long fellowships at UC Santa Barbara and LMU Munich, where he finished his first book, Remembering the Lotus-Born. He also serves as a Karunika ("compassionate" teacher) for the Nalandabodhi Tibetan Buddhist community.
After a sabbatical year as a Visiting Scholar and Contemplative Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Contemplative Sciences Center, Dan left his tenured professorship at a liberal arts college in Virginia. As the Asian religions professor, he offered ten courses, designed and directed one of the first Contemplative Studies programs for undergraduates, led study abroad programs to Nepal and Japan, established and fostered a Japanese-style garden, and incorporated it into his classes.
Dan has offered numerous professional presentations and publications in Tibetan and Contemplative Studies. He also serves as Visiting Faculty for the Tibet Himalaya Initiative at the University of Colorado, Boulder and previously for the Center for Psychedelic Studies at Naropa University. He served on the Executive Board of the North American Japanese Garden Association and has been Editor and Chair of its peer-reviewed Journal since 2022.
In addition to contemplative practice, study, and teaching, Dan delights in spending time with his wife, daughter, and English setter, and enjoys snowboarding, downhill mountain biking, Japanese-style garden fostering and raking, and letter arts (calligraphy and street).
Contemplative Fellow, 2020–21
Assoc. Professor of Religious Studies
Director, Contemplative Studies
Assoc. Director, Leidecker Center for Asian Studies
2014–21
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
2013–14
University of California, Santa Barbara
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow
2012–13
Harvard University
PhD, Inner Asian and Altaic Studies
Tibetan Buddhism and History
2012
MA, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism with
Tibetan & Sanskrit Languages,
Monastic Curriculum (Shedra)
2005
BA, Religion
1998
Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
Accessible introduction to the discovery of Tibet's oldest surviving manuscripts, as well as the tradition of scriptural and relic revelation known as "treasure" (terma).
Anlayzes the construction of Tibet's cultural hero, Padmasambhava, the narrative of Tibet's 8th ce. establishment of Buddhism, and their architect, Nyangrel.
Explores the art, iconography, history and philosophy of Guru Rinpoche's eight names and three buddha bodies. For the Second Buddha exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art, NYC.
Introduces contemplative pedagogy as a means to explore the subtle effects of tech on our psychology and behavior, with a scripted exercise to investigate FOMO.
On the use of Japanese-style gardens in classroom assignments, with Dan's original Covid-19 raking pattern as the cover photo.
The title covers it! Co-authored with UMW colleagues on our course.
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