Medicine, the Body, and the Senses: Asian Perspectives

Twenty-two scholars from Asia, Europe, and North America convened at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, April 11-12, 2025, to present papers and discuss current research on medical ideas and practices in Asia.

Participants addressed how understandings of the body and its various senses in premodern and modern contexts shape healing outcomes, religious experiences, gender relations, and sociopolitical processes. The conference also explored social, political, religious, and cultural contexts that 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 fostered fruitful conversation advancing crucial Asian perspectives on the body and the senses.

The keynote speaker was Judith Farquhar, Max Palevsky Professor Emerita of Anthropology and of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago. Professor Farquhar's acclaimed books and articles examine traditional medicine, popular culture and everyday life n contemporary China.

The conference was convened by Yan Liu, Associate Professor of History at UB, and Genie Yoo, Assistant Professor of History at UB. Funding was provided by the UB Asia Research Institute and Office of International Education.

Conference sponsors included the UB Asia Research Institute, Office of International Education, Department of History, Asian Studies Program, Office of Global Health Initiatives in the School of Public Health and Health Professions, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Department of Anthropology.