Penn State

Faculty Member, Abington College, Division of Humanities

Abington

Thesis Title: Buddhism and Medicine in Medieval China: Disease, Healing, and the Body in Crosscultural Translation (2nd to 8th Centuries C.E.)

Advisors: Marta Hanson
William Rowe
Stephen Teiser
Tobie Meyer-Fong
Mary Fissell

About

The major theme in my scholarship thus far and my core interest for future research is the investigation of Buddhism's role in the intercultural exchange of ideas about the body, disease, and healing. I am interested in looking at historical and contemporary Buddhist medicine through a crosscultural lens, emphasizing both the transmission and local reception of knowledge. I am also fascinated by the theoretical issues raised by the interdisciplinary study of the intersection between religion, medicine, and the body more generally.

My dissertation investigates Buddhist medical doctrines, therapeutic practices, and hagiographic representations of healers in early medieval China. I argue that the analysis of Buddhist medical texts in Chinese translation has important implications for understanding the role of religious healing in the crosscultural encounter between India and China in the medieval period, and more broadly, of the integration between religion and medicine in Asian traditions.

(See more details at my website, www.jivaka.net)

Contact Information

Homepage: http://www.jivaka.net

Address: Forwarding address:
P.O. Box 625
Williamsburg MA 01096