Michael Slouber, PhD
Chair of Global Humanities and Religions Department, Professor, Major Advisor for Humanities: History of Culture, BA; Religion and Culture, BA; Student-Faculty Designed Majors
Office
Location
Bond Hall 152A
Hours
Spring 2026:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9:00-10:00am or by appointment
Website
Academic blogAbout
Education
Ph.D. South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Bio and Activities
Pronunciation: ("Slou-" rhymes with "know")
Michael Slouber is a specialist in early medieval religions of India, and teaches a variety of courses in South Asian Studies and Religious Studies. His introductory courses emphasize an interdisciplinary approach to the humanities of Indian civilization, drawing on history, literature, religion, film, art, and ethnography. He also teaches general courses in the study of religion, religious studies methods, and pilgrimage, as well as special topics courses relating to goddess traditions and traditional medicine.
Slouber trained in the classical languages of India—Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit—at UC Berkeley and Uni Hamburg, and may be available to tutor highly motivated students in these languages at any level, or the modern languages Hindi-Urdu and Nepali at the elementary level.
His research has focused on the history of medicine, Tantra, shamanism, and the history of goddess traditions in southern Asia.
Current Courses
- HUMA 271/HNRS 220: Humanities of India (***offered Winter 2027)
- HUMA 302: Methods of Interdisciplinary Study: The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki
- REL 109: Intro to the Study of Religion
- REL 201: Global Religions I: South and East Asia (***offered Spring 2027)
- REL 303: Methods in the Study of Religion (***offered Fall 2026)
- REL 345/WGSS 320: Fierce Goddesses of India
- REL 390/490: Pilgrimage and Healing
Selected Publications
Books
- 2021: Slouber, Michael (ed.). A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses. Oakland: University of California Press.
- 2017: Slouber, Michael. Early Tantric Medicine. New York: Oxford University Press.
Selected Other Recent Publications
- Forthcoming: Slouber, Michael. Dictionary entries in Tāntrikābhidhānakośa volume IV, edited by Dominic Goodall and Marion Rastelli. Wien: VÖAW.
karṇapiśāca, kaśmala, trailokyamohana, bālatantra, brahmarākṣasa, brahmānanda,
brahmāstra, bhūta, bhūtatantra, bhūtatantrika, bhūtasamaya, bhūtāveśa, bhoga-
hasta, bhairavavrata, mantragraha, mantrapiṇḍa, mantramūrti, mantravicāra,
mantravedha, mantrāveśa, markaṭī, mānasa, māraṇa, māraṇādi, muṇḍa, muṇḍab-
haṅgi, muṇḍānta, moha, mohana, yakṣakardama, yakṣāṃśa, yāgabhūmi, rakṣā,
rakṣograha, rasa, rasasiddhi, rasāyana, rasāyanasiddhi, and lākinī. - 2024: Slouber, Michael. “The Goddesses of Jaina Tantra.” In the Oxford Handbook on Tantric Studies edited by Richard Payne and Glen Hayes. New York: Oxford University Press. 507–530.
- 2023: Slouber, Michael. “Shamans and Bhūta Tantrikas: A Shared Genealogy?” In Tantra, Magic, and Vernacular Religions in Monsoon Asia: Texts, Practices, and Practitioners from the Margins edited by Paolo Rosati and Andrea Acri. London: Routledge. 60–77.
See my personal academic homepage for my full current CV.
