Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg

PhD fellow in Anthropology at Aarhus University, Denmark. Part of the research group 'Buddhism and Modernity: Global dynamics of transmission and translation'. Currently engaging in my doctoral research project approaching Ladakhi Buddhist student migrants in Delhi and their negotiation of Buddhism while studying 'abroad.' Facebook plays a very large role in my research not only as a research methodology but also as part of the Ladakhi students' lives in forming student (religious) communities and platforms for (religious) discussion while away from home. I recently organized a PhD course, 'Facebook::Fieldwork' in which we worked through how to incorporate social media into our research methodologies. New Media including Facebook, You Tube, DVDs, Mobile phone technologies, etc. are impacting the ways in which Himalayan youth practice and understand Buddhism which is elaborated upon in a recently published article, "A Global Buddhism Returns: New Media, Ancient Wisdom and Modern Translations of Buddhism among Ladakhi Student Migrants in Delhi."