Tanner McAlister grew up in Yuba City, California, USA. He became interested in Buddhism and Classical Buddhist languages while studying at Utah State University, and pursued this interest through a Master of Theological Studies at the Harvard Divinity School. In addition to teaching English at SINI, Tanner is piloting a course in Classical Tibetan to English translation with the hope of inspiring and enabling SINI’s resident students to take part in the important work of Dharma preservation. Tanner is also exploring how his translation skills can be of service in SINI’s Kagyur Karchag project.

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