The Courtauld Institute is proud to announce that Dr Thupten Kelsang has been named a 2026 Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Buddhism Public Scholar.
Dr Kelsang is one of four Buddhism Public Scholars who will be placed in one- to two-year professional positions with leading museums and publications across Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These recent PhDs will apply their academic expertise from their PhD training to strengthen the host organization’s presentation of Buddhist art, thought, and practice to broad audiences.
Dr Kelsang is a museum anthropologist with a Clarendon-funded DPhil from the University of Oxford. Specialising in community-engaged research and Tibetan museum collections, he has been consulted by the British Museum, the Pitt Rivers Museum, the British Library, and the Horniman Museum. He is currently an AHRC Research Fellow at the Victoria & Albert Museum, leading the ‘Reanimating Tibetan Heritage’ project.
Dr Kelsang will work with the Courtauld Institute to support collaborations with public institutions such as museums and libraries, as well as Buddhist temples and religious communities both in the UK and in Asia, to create public programming and produce knowledge about Buddhist Heritage.
“The 2026 cohort of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies demonstrates the vitality and reach of the field,” said Daphne Weber, ACLS (American Council for Learned Socieities) Program Officer of Buddhist Studies. “ACLS is proud to support rigorous, academic scholarship and professional positions that bring new knowledge and understanding of Buddhist traditions to broader communities who stand to benefit from it.”
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies at ACLS promotes the academic study of Buddhism, strengthens international networks of Buddhist scholars, and increases the visibility of new knowledge and research on Buddhist traditions. It is made possible by a $7.5 million grant extension to ACLS from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Global to advance research and scholarship in the field through fellowships and grants, nurture networks through annual symposia for early career fellows, and increase and diversify applicant pools across the globe.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr Kelsang to the Courtauld, and share his exciting work on Tibetan Buddhist objects in museum collections with our students as well as with religious communities” said Dr Sujatha Meegama, who oversees the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation at the Courtauld Institute.
The Ho Centre offers the MA Art History and Conservation of Buddhist Heritage programme. To join the new cohort in 2026-2027, apply now.
