Apologies for cross-postings. I am organizing a panel on "Religion and Medicine" for the 2012 meeting of the Association for Asian Studies to be held March 15--18th, 2012 in Toronto. A description of my initial ideas follows. I seek papers for this panel as well as discussants and a senior scholar to act as chair. If you know of anyone to whom this panel would be of interest, please forward the message to them. Details on the conference can be found here: <http://www.asian-studies.org/Conference/index.htm>.

Proposed panel: "Religion and Medicine." I would like to form a panel of papers on topics that involve both religious and medical issues. My paper will be on deity possession in South Asian snakebite healing traditions. Papers on possession or religious activity and mental health, the interplay of traditional and modern medicine, and ones which de-emphasize the assumed polarity of religion and medicine would fit this panel particularly well. Contact Michael Slouber at <mjslouber@berkeley.edu>.