Ian MacCormack received his PhD in the Study of Religion from Harvard University, with a dissertation on Buddhist cosmology and theology in the early modern Tibetan Buddhist state. His research centers on the cosmopolitan intellectual and social environment of early modern Tibet, especially the role of Buddhist thought and practice. His broader research agenda extends these studies of Buddhism in the early modern Tibetan state, especially with respect to topics such as literature and ritual. He is also researching related topics such as the literary and social dimensions of speechmaking in Tibetan Buddhism.