Michael Slouber, PhD

Professor, South and Southeast Asian Studies Minor Advisor, Digital Humanities Minor Advisor

About

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

  • HNRS 220: India: Politics, Passion, and Disenchantment
  • HUMA 271: Humanities of India (offered Fall 2024)
  • HUMA 302: Methods of Interdisciplinary Study: The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki
  • HUMA 421: Traditional Indian Medicine
  • REL 231: Intro to the Study of Religion
  • REL 303: Methods in the Study of Religion (offered Winter 2025)
  • REL 345/WGSS 320: Fierce Goddesses of India (offered Spring 2025)
  • REL 378: Religions and Society in India
  • REL 490: Pilgrimage and Healing

Selected Publications

Books
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 https://garudam.info/about for my full current CV.

Research Image
Folio from 12th century manuscript about the goddess Tvaritā that Slouber used in his research