Dr. Yannick Laurent
Research Associate
Cluster of Excellence Cross-Cultural Philology
I am a trained archaeologist (M.A., University of Lausanne) and a Tibetologist with a doctorate from the University of Oxford, working across archaeology, philology, history, and religious studies. My academic formation bridges material culture and archaeological approaches with long-term immersion in Tibetan language, Buddhist philosophy, and Tibetan cultural history. I have extensive field experience across Tibet and the Himalayan regions, integrating textual sources with monuments, inscriptions, and works of art. My research focuses in particular on the epigraphy of Tibetan and Himalayan artworks, identity formation in the Western Himalayas, and Tibetan diplomatic literature. I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich within the Cluster of Excellence Cross-Cultural Philology and a Research Fellow with the Margot and Thomas Pritzker Art Collaborative in Chicago. Alongside academic research and teaching, I collaborate with museums, private collections, and cultural institutions at the intersection of scholarship, curation, and cultural heritage.
List of most recent or significant publications
2023. Spiti: The Gigantic Valley of Many-Hued Strata. Archaeological and Historical Research in the Western Himalayas, 2 vols. Vajra Academic Series vol. 4. Kathmandu: Vajra Books.
(forthcoming) Yannick Laurent and David Pritzker (eds.) Tibetan and Himalayan Statuary Across Time and Space, Proceedings of the 16th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Prague, 3–9 July 2022.
2017. Yannick Laurent and David Pritzker (eds.) The Spiti Valley: Recovering the Past and Exploring the Present, Proceedings of the First International Conference on Spiti, Wolfson College, Oxford, 6th and 7th May, 2016. Revue d’Études Tibétaines 41.
(forthcoming) “Of Images and Inscriptions: Inscribed Bronzes from the Later Dissemination of Buddhism.” Marta Sernesi and Ulrike Roesler (eds.) Early Religious Networks, Leiden, Boston: Brill.
(forthcoming) “Yig cha (documents).” Anne Eusterschulte, Martin Kern, and Glenn W. Most (eds.) Philological Practices: A Comparative Historical Lexicon, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
(forthcoming) “Himalayan Statuary at Namgyal Monastery: Epigraphic Evidence.” Christian Luczanits (ed.) Sculptures of Namgyal Monastery, Kathmandu: Vajra Academic.
(forthcoming) “Mapping Tibetanness: Donor Records and Identity Formation in the Borderlands of Upper West Tibet.” Nicola Schneider, Salomé Deboos, and Carmen Brandt (eds.) Tibetanness outside Tibet. Perspectives from South Asia and beyond.
(forthcoming) “The Fifth Dalai Lama: Epigraphic Study of Sculptural Portraits.” Yannick Laurent and David Pritzker (eds) Tibetan and Himalayan Statuary: Across Time and Space, Proceedings of the 16th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Prague, 3–9 July 2022.
2025. “A Donor Inscription from Thangi Village in Kinnaur.” George FitzHerbert, Fernanda Pirie, Ulrike Roesler, and Alice Travers (eds.) Yungdrung: A Ramble in Tibetan Studies, Kathmandu: Vajra Academic. 81–106.
2023. “Mindröling.” Knud Larsen (ed.), Wall Painting in Tibet: History, Technique, Survivals, Environment. Odder: Tronfjell Publications. 159–165.
2023. “Tholing Red Temple.” Knud Larsen (ed.), Wall Painting in Tibet: History, Technique, Survivals, Environment. Odder: Tronfjell Publications. 233–239.
2022. “From Lithang with Love: A Travel Permit from the Seventh Dalai Lama.” Christopher Cüppers, Karl-Heinz Everding, and Peter Schwieger (eds) A Life in Tibetan Studies: Festschrift for Dieter Schuh at the Occasion of his 80th Birthday. Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute. 459–482.
2021 “Receptacle of Enlightenment: The Buddhist Visual Culture of Tibet and the Himalayas.” Robert Davies (ed.) Traveller’s Eyes: Selected Works from the Francisco Capelo Asian Collections, London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers. 155–163.
2021. “In the Time of the Great Translator Rinchen Zangpo: The Foundation Period of Tholing, Nyarma, and Tabo Monasteries.” Holger Neuwirth and Carmen Auer (eds.) The Ancient Monastic Complexes of Tholing, Nyarma and Tabo, Buddhist Architecture in the Western Himalayas, vol.3. Graz: Verlag der TU Graz. 13–25.
2020. “Nam mkha’ grags and the Three Silver Brothers: A Sixteenth-Century ‘Divine Artist’ from Western Tibet.” In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Tibetan Archaeology and Art, Part II. Journal of Tibetology 22: 236–274.
2018. “The Inscription of the Rietberg Acala.” David Weldon. Defining the Style of a Group of 13th Century Tibetan Gilt Copper Statues. Asianart.com (appendix).
2017. “On Maṇi and Epigraphy: Four Stone Inscriptions from Spiti.” In Revue d’Études Tibétaines 39: 229–65.
2016. “In the Bosom of Khotan? A Dialogue between Image and Text.” In Revue d’Études Tibétaines 36: 93–119.
2014. “The Upper Temple of Dangkhar Monastery: Iconographical Capharnaüm or Political Manoeuvre?” In Revue d’Études Tibétaines 29: 103–53.
2013. “lHa bla ma Zhi ba ’od’s Eighth Century Bronze from Gilgit’. In Revue d’Études Tibétaines 26: 195–214.