Vesna Wallace

Vesna Wallace
Professor of Religious Studies
vwallace@religion.ucsb.edu
PDF icon Professor Vesna Wallace's curriculum vitae

Office Location: 

HSSB, 3rd floor, room # 3045

Specialization: 

Languages and Specialization: Serbo-Croatian, Sanskrit, P?li, Hindi, Modern Mongolian and Classical Mongolian. Fields: Religious Traditions of South and Inner Asia

Education: 

B.A. University of Zagreb, Croatia (Department of Indology and Department of Comparative Literature), 1979
M.A. University of Washington, (Department of Asian Languages and Literatures), 1988
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley (Department of South and East Asian Languages and Literatures), 1995

Bio: 

Vesna A. Wallace teaches South Asian and Inner Asian religions and advanced Sanskrit Courses in the Department of Religious Studies at UCSB. Her two areas of specialization are Indian Buddhism, particularly Mah?yana and Vajray?na traditions and Mongolian Buddhism. She has authored and translated four books related to Indian Buddhism, three of which pertain to the Kalachakra tantric tradition in India, and has published numerous articles on Indian and Mongolian Buddhism. Her most recent book is an edited volume on Mongolian Buddhism, titled Buddhism in Mongolian Culture, History, and Society.

Research: 

Professor Wallace is currently working on three new books, two pertaining to Buddhism in Mongolia--one is an edited volume “Sources of Mongolian Buddhism,” and the other is a co-authored book on “Interplay between Text, Image, and Ritual in Mongolian Buddhism.” Another book is a translation and analysis of Indian Buddhist tantric texts on tantric yoga. She also has several other works in progress, a critical edition of Sanskrit text, titled the Sm?tyupasth?na S?tra and is working on Buddhism and law in Mongolia.

Publications: 

Books

  • Buddhism in Mongolian History, Culture, and Society. Edited by Vesna A. Wallace.New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
  • The K?lacakratantra: The Chapter on S?dhana together with the Vimalaprabh?. TanjurTranslation Initiative, Treasury of Buddhist Sciences Series. New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, co-published with the Columbia University’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Tibet House. 2010. (Reviewed by Tadeusz Skorupski in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 75, Issue 03, October 2012: 590-592.)
  • The K?lacakratantra: The Chapter on the Individual together with the Vimalaprabh?. Tanjur Translation Initiative, Treasury of Buddhist Sciences Series.  New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, co-published with the Columbia University’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Tibet House, 2004. (Annotated translation from Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Mongolian, together with a critical edition of the Mongolian text.)
  • The Inner K?lacakratantra: A Buddhist Tantric View of the Individual.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  • A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. Bodhic?ry?vat?ra. Translated from Sanskrit and Tibetan by Vesna A. Wallace and B. Alan Wallace. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications,   1997.
  • A Textbook for the First Year Intensive Serbo-Croatian. Co-author. Washington DC, State Department, 1988.

    For the complete list of publications, please see attached curriculum vitae.

Courses: 

Advanced Sanskrit and P?li Courses Taught at UCSB

  • Reading the two Sanskrit editions of the Bhai?ajyaguruvaid?ryaprabh?r?ja Mah?y?na S?tra
  • Reading selected chapters from ??ntideva’s ?ik??samuccaya
  • Reading the Mañju?r?n?masa?g?ti with Ravi?r?jñ?na’s Am?taka?ik?khya?ippa??
  • Reading N?rop?’s Param?rthasa?graha
  • Reading the Perfection of Wisdom S?tra in Fifty Lines and other selected Mah?y?na texts
  • Reading Selected Works from the Buddhist Tantric Literature in Sanskrit
  • Reading Buddhist Sanskrit Texts (Reading selected texts from the corpus of Buddhist Mah?y?na and Vajray?na scriptures)
  • Jain Literature in Sanskrit (Selected readings from Jaina Sanskrit Literature
  • Buddhist Literature in P?li (Selected readings from the Buddhist P?li canonical literature)
  • Reading the Yogas?tras of Patañjali with Vy?sa’s Commentary
  • Reading selected texts from Buddhist philosophical literature
  • Reading selected texts from Buddhist Mah?y?na ??stras
  • Reading Sanskrit Jain Texts (Reading the selected reading from the Jain classic, Pra?amaratiprakara?am with Haribhadra’s commentary)
  • Reading selected texts pertaining to the South Asian theories of the body from the Major Upani?ads, Manus?rti, Bh?gavata Pur??a, and ?yurvedic Sa?hit?s)
  • Reading the Bhairavavil?sa and the selected readings from the Kath?saritas?gara),
  • Reading the Hindu tantric text Ras?r?ava
  • Reading selected texts from the Vedas, Br?hma?as and ?rauta S?tras
  • Reading selected readings from the works of A?vagho?a    
  • Reading Buddhist Tantric works: the K?lacakratantra and the Vimalaprabh?
  • Reading selected texts from the Major and Yoga Upani?ads
  • Reading the Kul?r?avatantra
  • Reading the Yogavasi??ha
  • Reading Hindu Philosophical Texts: the ?iva S?tras with K?emar?ja's Vimar?in?)
  • Reading Sanskrit Philosophical Texts: the ?gama??stra of Gau?ap?da with ?a?kara's commentary

Graduate Seminars Taught at UCSB

  • Seminar on “The K?lacakra Tantric Tradition”
  • Seminar on “Indian Buddhist Tantras”
  • Seminar on “South Asian Buddhism (Mah?y?na Buddhism)”
  • Seminar on “Therav?da Buddhism”
  • Seminar on “Mongolian Buddhism”
  • Seminar on “Buddhist Monasticism and Vinayas in Indian Buddhism”
  • Seminar on “Hindu Philosophical Traditions,” Department of Religious Studies
  • Seminar on “Jainism,” Seminar on “South Asian Buddhist Traditions (Buddhist Philosophy)
  • Seminar on “South Asian Philosophical Traditions: Constructions of Personal Identity within the Six Dar?anas”
  • Seminar on “South Asian Buddhism: Buddhist Hermeneutics”
  • Seminar on “Comparative Study of Foucault and Buddhist Theories of Sexuality and Religious Experience”

 Undergraduate Thematic Courses Taught at UCSB

  • “Mind and Buddhist Mediation Traditions,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Introduction to Buddhism,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Introduction to Asian Religious Traditions,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Undergraduate Seminar in Buddhist Ethics,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Religions of Mongolia,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Religion and Healing in Global Perspective,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Buddhist Tantra,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Indian Philosophy,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Religions of India,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “South Asian Buddhism,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Ceylon Buddhism,” Department of Religious Studies
  • “Socially Engaged Buddhism,” Department of Religious Studies