Call for Papers

The Asia Research Institute at The University at Buffalo, State University of New York (SUNY-Buffalo) invites scholars who work on medical ideas and practices in Asia, broadly conceived, to submit an application to participate in a 1.5-day conference on April 11-12, 2025 at SUNY-Buffalo (in-person only).

The conveners are particularly interested in research that speaks to how understandings of the body and its various senses (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, haptic, etc.) in premodern and modern contexts shape healing outcomes, religious experiences, gender relations, and sociopolitical processes. We also welcome research that explores how social, political, religious, and cultural contexts frame and change perceptions of sensorial experience and embodied practice.

Taking a multidisciplinary approach and paying attention to both local features and transregional knowledge exchange, the conference is intended to foster fruitful conversation that advances crucial Asian perspectives on the body and the senses and offers fresh insights on the particular Asian societies under study.

We have recruited 9 scholars whose presentations cover East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia (the Islamic world). We plan to recruit another 4-6 presenters through this CFP process. Researchers at various stages of their career, from advanced PhD students to senior scholars as well as independent scholars, are welcome to apply.

The conference is generously supported by the newly established Asia Research Institute at SUNY Buffalo. The costs of airfare, local accommodation, and meals during the conference will be covered.

If you are interested, please fill out a title of your paper, your biographical information, and upload an abstract of your paper (up to 200 words) as a PDF file to the Airtable site here. The application is due on Monday, November 18, 2024.

We will notify you of the result by mid-December, 2024. Should you be selected, we would like to request a draft of your paper (3,000-4,000 words) by March 1, 2025. We will pre-circulate submitted papers among the conference attendees so as to have a more prepared discussion together. Furthermore, we plan to publish a select number of essays in one or two special issues of a journal (to be determined). We will discuss the details of the publication at the conference.

Thank you for your interest in the conference. Should you have any questions, please contact the conference organizers:

Yan Liu
Associate Professor of History, SUNY Buffalo
yliu253@buffalo.edu

Genie Yoo
Post-doctoral Fellow at Dumbarton Oaks & Incoming Assistant Professor of History, SUNY Buffalo
yooj01@doaks.org