Frederick M. Smith, Department of Religious Studies

314 Gilmore Hall • Iowa City, IA 52242 • 319-335-2164

Curriculum Vitae
Frederick M. Smith

Business Address:
Department of Religious Studies
318 Gilmore Hall
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242

Phone: 319-335-2178
E-mail: frederick-smith@uiowa.edu

PRESENT POSITION

Associate Professor of Sanskrit and Classical Indian Religions, University of Iowa, jointly appointed in the Department of Religious Studies and the Department of Asian Languages and Literature.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Vedic and Hindu Ritual and Religious traditions.
Medieval Indian Religious Literature (esp. Purana, Tantra, Bhakti literature).
Anthropology and sociolinguistics of ancient and classical India.

PUBLICATIONS

Books
The Self Possessed: Deity and Spirit Possession in Classical Indian Literature and Civilization. Columbia University Press. In press (2006).

The Vedic Sacrifice in Transition: A Translation and Study of the Trikandamandana of Bhaskara Misra. Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (1987).

Book edited
Pluralism and Paradigms in Modern and Global Ayurveda. (With Dagmar Wujastyk). University of California Press (2006).

Recent major articles

“Vedic and Devotional Waters: The Jalabheda of Vallabhacarya.” International Journal of Hindu Studies. In press (2005).

“The Hierarchy of Philosophical Systems According to Vallabhacarya.” Journal of Indian Philosophy. (In press).

“Possession as an Intermedial Event.” In Intermedia: Threshold States. Ed. by Hans Breder and Klaus-Peter Busse. Dortmund: Universität Dortmund Press (2004).

“South Asian Shamanism.” In Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture. Ed. by Marilo Walter and Eva Jan Fridman. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, pp. 777-784.

“The Recent History of Vedic Ritual in Maharashtra.” In Vidyarnavavadanam. Essays in Honour of Asko Parpola; edited by Klaus Karttunen and Petteri Koskikallio. Studia Orientalia 94:443-63 (2001).

“The Current State of Possession Studies as a Cross Disciplinary Project.” Religious Studies Review 27.3:203-212 (2001).

“Vedas and Vedic Religion.” Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online edition) (2000).

“Indra Goes West: Report on a Vedic Soma Sacrifice in London in July 1996.” History of Religions 39.3: 247-267 (2000).

“Nirodha and the Nirodhalaksana of Vallabhacarya.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 26.6: 589-651 (1998).

“Notes on the Development of Bhakti.” Journal of Vaisnava Studies 6.1: 17-36 (1998).

“Indian Conceptions of Heaven.” In Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy General editor, Edward Craig (London and New York: Routledge); Vol IV: 253-57 (1998).

“Yoga Sutra,” In Great Literature of the Eastern World, ed. By Ian P. Mcgreal (New York: HarperCollins), pp. 214-218 (1996).

“Brahmanas and Aranyakas.” In Great Literature of the Eastern World, ed. By Ian P. McGreal (New York: HarperCollins), pp. 173-177 (1996).

Major works in progress
The Asvamedhika parvan of the Mahabharata (monograph). University of Chicago Press.

The Veda in the Twentieth Century (monograph). (Contract signed with the State University of New York Press.)

Divine Service: The Sixteen Works (Sodasagranthah) of Vallabhacarya (monograph).

Critical edition of the Sudarsanasamhita, an 18th century Sanskrit text on ritual and sorcery (monograph).

SELECTED INVITED PAPERS AND ADDRESSES
“Dharma and Disease: Spirits as Disease-Causing Agents in the Madanamaharnava.” 33rd Annual South Asia Conference; University of Wisconsin, Madison, October 2005.

“Names of grahas in the Madanamaharnava.” American Oriental Society, Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, March 2005.

“The Permeable Self and the Impermeable Household in South Asia.” Brown University. Keynote lecture for a conference on Religion and Daily Life in the Ancient World, February 2005.

“Sanskrit and Indian Studies in America and Europe.” “The Place of Religion in Indian Philosophy and the Place of Philosophy in Indian Religion.” Lectures delivered at Beijing University, Beijing, China, December 2004-January 2005.

“The Discourse of Emotion and the Discourse of Rasa.” American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, San Antonio, November 2004.

“Possession in the Mahabharata.” American Oriental Society, Annual Meeting, San Diego, March 2004.

“Library Resources and the Study of Religion in Postgraduate Education in India.” Conference on the Study of Religion in India, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, December 2003.

“The Structure of Knowledge in Ayurvedic Mental Health Care in Kerala.” Conference on Modern Ayurveda. Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, December 2003.

“Recent Examples of Contemporary Apocryphal Literature Associated with the Modern Performance of Vecic Ritual.” 12th World Sanskrit Conference, Helsinki, July 2003.

“Textual Borrowings Between Medical, Ritual, and Astrological Texts within the Healing Traditions of Kerala.” 12th World Sanskrit Conference, Helsinki, July 2003.

“Philosophy and Orthopraxis in the Construction of Sectarian Doxographies: The Balabodha of Vallabhacarya.” University of New Mexico, Dept. of Philosophy, March 2003.

“The Modern Practice of Traditional Ayurvedic Mental Health Care.” Dhvanyaloka Centre for Indian Studies, Mysore, August 2002.

“Possession, Prognostication, and the Dissemination of Popular Tantric Ritual in India and China.” Conference on Tantra and Daoism: The Globalization of Religion and Its Experience. Boston University, April 2002.

“Suggestions Regarding the Transmission of Possession Ritual from India to China: The Evidence from Sanskrit Manuscripts.” American Oriental Society, Houston, March 2002.

“Folk to classical and Back gain: Language and Gender in Deity and Spirit Possession in Indian Culture.” Columbia University, February 2001.

“Representations and Uses of the Bhagavad-Gita in India and the West.” Drexel University Great Works Symposium. Drexel University, Philadelphia, November 2000.

“The Theory and Practice of Pralaya: Millennialism in Classical Sanskrit Literature.” Plenary session of the 210th meeting of the American Oriental Society, Portland, March 2000.

“Philosophy and Orthopraxis in the Construction of Pustimarga Doxographies.” Paper for American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, Boston, November 1999.

“The Hierarchy of Philosophical Systems according to Vallabhacarya.” Paper for 209th meeting of the American Oriental Society, Baltimore, March 1999.

“Alchemy and its Relationship with Tantra, Ayurveda, and Astrology in India.” 40 Congresso Internazionale di Spagyria ed Alchimia. Associazone Medicina Spagyrica e Filosofia Alchemica; Padua, Italy, April 1998.

“Ideologies of Reality in ‘Traditional’ and ‘Modern’ Discourse on Indian Antiquity,” Paper for American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 1997.

“The Veda, The Construction of Knowledge, and Dark Matter.” Seminar entitled “Whose Veda?”, sponsored by the Dharam Hinduja Indic Research Institute, Columbia University (held at the University of Florida, Gainesville), February 1996.

EDITORIAL POSITIONS
Encyclopaedia Britannica: Sub-editor for articles on Indian religion for the online database.

Religous Studies Review: Sub-editor for South Asia, Central Asia, Souteast Asia, and Buddhism.

SERVICE

Department service

Faculty Senate representative, School of Religion, 1996-99

Programs Committee, School of Religion, 1996-99

Undergraduate Education Committee, School of Religion, 1995-97

Library Committee, School of Religion (now Department of Religious Studies), 1991-present

Served on several selection committees for new faculty and peer review committees for School of Religion and Asian Languages and Literature.

College and University service

Acting Chair, Dept. of Asian Languages and Literature, May 1998-January 1999.

Head, South Asia Studies Program, UI 1991-94; Associate Head, 1996-2004; Director, 2004-present.

Member, Executive Committee, Center for International and Comparative Studies, UI, 1991-94

Member, Executive Committee, Kala Mandali (Indian Music and Arts Circle), Iowa City, 1990-1995.

Member, Executive Committee, Artists and Artisans in Traditional Technology in Development (AARTTID), 1991-1995.

Co-organizer of the 24th meeting of the South Asia Language Association, held at the University of Iowa, June 20-22, 2002.

Co-organizer of the 15th meeting of the South Asia Language Association, held at the University of Iowa, May 21-23, 1993.

Fund-raising for the University of Iowa Kannada Language project, 1990-1998.

Selection Committee member for Foreign Language Area Fellowships (FLAS), International Center, UI 1997-99.

Member, Board of Advisors, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Clinic, UIHC, 1997-present.

Professional service

Manuscript reader for State University of New York Press, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Macmillan. Since 1988 I have read and evaluated more than 40 manuscripts submitted for publication.

Religion in South Asia (RISA) Steering Committee member, American Academy of Religion, 1998-2001.

Hinduism Group Steering committee member, 2002-2005.

Academic Working Group Head and Advisor to the Dharam Hinduja Indic Research Center, Columbia University, 1993-1999.

American Institute of Indian Studies, Trustee, 1999-2001.

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