Date of Graduation

5-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Journalism (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Journalism

Advisor/Mentor

Larry Foley

Committee Member

Dale Carpenter

Second Committee Member

Carmen Coustaut

Third Committee Member

Sidney Burris

Keywords

China, Dalai Lama, Human Rights, India, Refugees, Tibet

Abstract

The goal of Hope, Faith and Trust: Conversations with Tibetans in Exile was to create a documentary to serve as a platform for Tibetan refugees living in India to tell, in their own words, the story of the Tibetan peoples' political struggles since the Chinese government occupied Tibet in the 1950s. To achieve this goal, this project utilized oral-history interviews with Tibetan exiles, gathered as part of the University of Arkansas TEXT Program. The TEXT Program, short for Tibetans in Exile Today, is a study abroad oral-history project in which undergraduate students conduct interviews with Tibetans living in India. The film is comprised of footage shot by TEXT Program students, interviews I shot as part of the TEXT Program, and archival footage and photographs. This fifteen minute documentary is meant to represent the differing opinions of the Tibetan exiled community regarding the past, present, and future of their culture.

The TEXT Program itself is the inspiration for this documentary. As the Graduate Assistant for the TEXT Program, I gained a thorough understanding of the plight facing the Tibetan people. I felt compelled to aid the Tibetan cause with this film by not only providing a platform for different Tibetans' points of view to be heard, but also by presenting these opinions intertwined in a hard-hitting, no-nonsense way designed to help the viewer comprehend the severity of the Tibetan political situation, as well as the possible consequences of ignoring this issue.

Following my trip to India with the TEXT Program in June 2013, I wanted to help the Tibetans make their story more broadly known to the Western world. The mainstream media offers little coverage of the political struggles of Tibetans and the human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese government in Tibet. My aim is for this film to help foster support for Tibet's cause, as well as compassion for beings everywhere who are suffering.

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