Home › Forums › News from IABU Members

E-Learning MA in Buddhist Studies Program Open for Application

Sun, 08/09/2009 - 21:08 — faqing

IBC E-Learning MA program for Buddhist Studies is based on IBC MA Program (36-credits). It is course-based (8 courses, 3 credits per course) with a thesis (about 25,000 words, 12 credits). The MA program’s duration is three years. Individual e-tutorials will be available to all students.

The core module consists of eight subjects, an individually supervised thesis of 25,000 words, and one Comprehensive exam at the end of the course.

For detail, visit: http://elearning.ibc.ac.th/

IBC celebrates its Second Convocation ceremony on 2nd August 2009 ›
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 08:16 — admin

Distance Learning Program for Buddhist Studies

There is a discussion about Distance Learning Program for Buddhist Studies at
http://www.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?t=29350

Bill Dayson wrote:

Latest news is that this isn't going to happen and that the Sunderland
MA program will be history when it teaches out its current students.

But here's another considerably more exotic Buddhist-studies DL
offering that's appeared in the last year or so.

It's an online MA program, taught in English, offered by the new
International Buddhist College in Hat Yai, Thailand.

http://elearning.ibc.ac.th/MA/Curriculum

International Buddhist College is the work of ethnic Chinese Buddhists
from Penang Malaysia who apparently decided that it would be easier to
create a new Buddhist university across the border in neighboring
Buddhist Thailand.

I believe that the Thai education ministry has given it their
equivalent of accreditation. I'm not sure of the details though.

The school is listed in the Thai education ministry's English language
listing of Thai higher-education institutions.

http://www.mua.go.th/data_main/directory_che.doc

So its likely 'GAAP', if obscure.

It has a modern physical campus. Google image results are here. From
the looks of it, a large percentage of its students are monastics.
That says something positive about its authenticity, I guess.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22inter...

The American 'Chronicle of Higher Education' visited the newly opened
college in Thailand and did a long and favorable illustrated story on
it, published in the March 30, 2007 issue.

The First IBC Buddhist Studies Conference in August 2006 attracted an
all-star cast of American Buddhist Studies scholars to Asia to present
papers, suggesting that IBC might not be quite as obscure to
interested people in the US as one might think.

http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~hlye/IBCTitles.htm

It looks like some of IBC's funding might be coming from the Ho Family
Foundation in Hong Kong. This charitable foundation has funded
Buddhist studies activities at U. Hong Kong, U. British Columbia, U.
Toronto and at Stanford University, as well as as IBC.

http://hcbss.stanford.edu/Partners/ho-foundation_statement.html