Department of Religious Studies
Department of Religious Studies
Michael Smith

Michael D. Smith

Doctoral Student
Email: wkw8jm@virginia.edu

Education

  • University of Virginia - PhD in Religious Studies, Buddhist Studies (in progress)
  • Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies - MA in Translation, Textual Interpretation, and Philology (2023)
  • Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine - MPH (2010)
  • Tulane University School of Social Work - MSW (2010)
  • Rice University - BA in Religious Studies and Environmental Policy Studies (2005)

Fellowships and Scholarships

  • E. Ph. Goldschmidt Fellowship, Rare Book School (2026)
  • Tsadra Foundation Advanced Buddhist Studies Scholarship (2021-2023)
  • Fulbright Scholarship, Nepal (2006-2007)

Areas of Specialization

Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism, Hinduism, Contemplative Practice and Ritual, Language (Tibetan, Nepali, Hindi, Sanskrit), Translation Studies, International Education

Bio

From 2003-2025, Michael divided his time between Nepal, India and New Orleans coordinating and teaching international study abroad programs; studying language, culture and religion; organizing social work projects; and assisting in the disaster recoveries from the 2005 Hurricane Katrina flood and the 2015 Nepal earthquakes.

He worked as a translator and Tibetan language instructor at the Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute (2023-2024) and as Interim Academic Director for the School for International Training (SIT) Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan People’s Program (2024-2025). He directs and teaches the Tulane University Center for Public Service’s annual India summer study abroad (2011-2026).

Primary research projects include recording oral histories of the first Khari Rinpoche Lobsang Tsultrim (1889-1969) with Sherpa and Tibetan communities in Nepal, collated into a full-length narrative biography (2004–05); conducting ethnographic research with contemporary Newari patrons of Tibetan Buddhist teachers in the Kathmandu Valley (2006–07); managing a 15-month impact evaluation of community-based residential rehabilitative programs for persons with severe and persistent mental illness in New Orleans (2009-2010); and creating an annotated translation and Tibetan edition of Tadru Orgyan Tenzin’s (1657-1737) autobiography (2022-2023). His current research focuses on seventeenth and eighteenth century biographies, song collections and ritual texts from northwest Nepal.