Dr. Slouber is Associate Professor of South Asia at Western Washington University. He is the author of Early Tantric Medicine: Snakebite, Mantras, and Healing in the Gāruḍa Tantras, and the editor of A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses, recently published with UC Press.
Current Project
Preparing a book-length study on the Bhūta Tantras (spirit possession, placation, exorcism, etc.)
Books
- A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses. Oakland: University of California Press, 2021. (Editor and contributor)
- Early Tantric Medicine. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. (Monograph)
Other Publications
- “Ferocity and Violence in the Bhūta Tantras.” In Serbaeva, O. (ed.) Transgression and Encounters with the Terrible in Buddhist and Śaiva Tantras. (accepted for publication)
- Two translations in Salguero, Pierce (ed.) Buddhism and Medicine: An Anthology of Premodern Sources, Columbia University Press (2017): “The Buddha’s Past Life as a Snakebite Doctor (Visavantajātaka)” and “Tantric Medicine in a Buddhist Proto-Tantra (Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa 40).”
- “The Herbal Arsenal and Fetid Foods: The Power of Plants in Early Tantric Exorcism Rituals” in Ferrari, F. and Dahnhardt, T. Roots of Wisdom, Branches of Devotion: Plant Life in South Asian Religions and Culture. London: Equinox, 145–164 (2016).
- Dictionary entries “Bhūta Tantra” and “Bāla Tantra” in Goodall, D. and Rastelli, M. (ed.) Tāntrikābhidhānakośa IV. Wien: VÖAW (forthcoming).
- “The Venomous Virgin: Fact or Fantasy?” in Wexler, P. (ed.) History of Toxicology: Toxicology in Antiquity. Elsevier: Waltham, MA (2014).
- “The Power of Garuda” in Winkel, K. (ed.) Venom: Fear, Fascination and Discovery. Medical History Museum, University of Melbourne (2013).
- “Carrying God: Merely a Mount or Independent Deity?” Journal of Vaishnava Studies, Vol. 21, No.1 (Fall 2012).
- “Vulnerability and Protection in the Śaiva Tantras.” In Goodall and Filliozat (eds.) Mélanges tantriques à la mémoire d’N.R. Bhatt (forthcoming).
- “Snakebite Goddesses in the Shakta Traditions: Roots and Incorporations of Tvaritā, Bheruṇḍā, and Kurukullā.” In Flood and Olesen (eds.) Shakta Traditions (forthcoming).
- “The Trotala: Edition and Translation of Tvaritāmūlasūtra 1” in Vasudeva (ed.) Śivasudhāprapāpālikā (forthcoming).
- “The Manuscripts of the Kriyākālaguṇottara.” NGMCP Newsletter #5 2007
Book Reviews
- Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions: Essays in Honour of Alexis
G.J.S. Sanderson edited by Dominic Goodall, Shaman Hatley, Harunaga
Isaacson, and Srilata Raman. In Indo-Iranian Journal 64 (2021) 75–87. - Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language
Order of Premodern India by Andrew Ollett. In International Journal of Hindu Studies 23, 3: 348–350 (2019). - Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets: Medicine and Martial Arts in South
India by Roman Sieler. In International Journal of Hindu Studies Vol.
22(3). - Toxic Histories: Poison and Pollution in Modern India by David
Arnold. In Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity 13: 345–347 (2018). - Lord Śiva’s Song by Andrew Nicholson. International Journal of Hindu Studies 19, 3: 352–354 (2015).
- Well-mannered Medicine by Dagmar Wujastyk. International Journal of Hindu Studies 21, 1: 138–139 (2017).
Other Academic Output
- Doctoral Thesis, Gāruḍa Medicine: A History of Snakebite and Religious Healing in South Asia, 2012.
- Etext of Bhairavapadmāvatīkalpa 2012
- MA thesis, “Śaṅkuka’s Saṃhitāsāra” 2011
- Etext of Viṣavaidyasārasamuccaya 2011
- Etext of Nārāyaṇīya TSS 2009
- Etext of Kāśyapīya 2008
- MA thesis, “The Cult of Khaḍgarāvaṇa” 2007
Recent service to the profession
- Area editor (South Asia) for the journal Asian Medicine (ASME)
- Convenor of the Tantra Studies section of the World Sanskrit Conference (2017 and current)
- Hinduism unit steering committee at the AAR (2017–2020)