STEM TARA
A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION ADVANCING STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, & MATHEMATICS) EDUCATION FOR BUDDHIST NUNS
Active Compassion
Welcome
Welcome and thank you for visiting STEM Tara online. STEM Tara began in 2015 as a nonprofit organization named for Shyama Tara or Green Tara (a female Buddha and the Goddess of Compassion). We support STEM education for Buddhist nuns in developing Asian countries. We encourage traditional and nontraditional approaches to STEM teaching and learning. This website serves to inspire visitors with articles we share about the successes of women and girls all over the world who make significant strides through their work in the STEM fields. We hope to facilitate scholarships, grants, internships, student teaching and independent study as well as practicum opportunities that advance and support the secular education of Buddhist nuns teaching and learning in the STEM fields. Please feel free to read more about our nonprofit organization on this site and contact us for more information about empowering Buddhist nuns through initiatives in STEM teaching and learning.
Our Mission
STEM Tara is a nonprofit organization that supports and advances STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education for Buddhist nuns in developing countries in Asia. Through our initiatives, we seek to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and targets of the United Nations, which support gender equity. We envision STEM education programs and projects that make it possible for the nuns to gain the practical knowledge and experience required to play integral roles in building and maintaining infrastructure, renewable energy, and other projects and systems that improve the quality of life in their communities. STEM Tara supports STEM education that enables nuns to be self-sufficient, alleviate the suffering of humanity, and restore and protect the natural environment.
We see STEM education as an integral part of the nuns’ self-efficacy, empowerment, and development in new and existing Buddhist institutions as centers for the education and spiritual growth women and girls. We are firmly committed to supporting STEM educational initiatives as determined by the nuns themselves in highly-contextualized locations.
STEM Education
STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics. Most nuns do not have equitable or sufficient opportunities to study these subjects even in their secular education programs. STEM education plays a critical role in empowering Buddhist nuns to improve their communities and beyond.
General Information
STEM Tara supports STEM education for the purpose of empowering Buddhist nuns in the twenty-first century. This nonprofit organization advocates Buddhism “as a system of philosophy, meditation, ethics, religious ritual, education, culture, and social transformation” (http://www.congress-on-buddhist-women.org). It provides internship and study-abroad opportunities to educate nuns in STEM academic disciplines and fields of study. It supports nuns with opportunities for STEM secular education at home and abroad. An important goal is to provide nuns with the knowledge and experience to actively participate in social action and development projects that improve the quality of life particularly for people living in poverty. STEM Tara focuses on supporting nuns who are working to alleviate the suffering of humanity as well as improve and protect the natural environment in local and global contexts. Be sure to follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STEMTara
Latest News
Check out pictures of our recent field research to Kathmandu, Nepal​
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​Events
Stay tuned; the schedule of events is currently under construction
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Education Fund
Please show your support and donate to the STEM Tara Education Fund.
We invite you to join our mailing list and receive emails with news and information about our work.
Get Involved
Water security and sustainability are critical global issues. For example, Kathmandu is overpopulated and lacks adequate water treatment facilities. Water goes straight from the heavily polluted rivers and streams to the tap. But often taps run dry. In Nepal, like many developing countries, it is primarily the responsibility of women and girls to fetch water. Women and girls are also primary caregivers for those who are sick, often with water-born illnesses. By utilizing STEM education, along with their deep, abiding commitment to social action projects, Buddhist nuns are uniquely poised to actively address such issues as water security and human rights. STEM educational initiatives can lead to the improved spiritual, mental, and physical health and well-being of local and global communities and create a more just and equitable world.