Libbie Mills teaches for Global Asia Studies, her expertise centering on Classical South Asia. Using oral and written materials translated from area languages into English, covering every field, from drama to law, she presents the Classical world in the words of the people who lived it.

She also steps away from verbiage, using material objects and music to convey the experience of the Classical world. Her principal research interest is Classical South Asian architecture, working with early Saiva (for followers of Siva) North Indian Tantric pratistha ('consecration') manuals dating from approximately the 7th century.

These manuals present the procedures for the construction of domestic and religious buildings, from selection and ritual preparation of the site, through details of form and proportion, to consecration of the finished construction.

By connecting these instructions to datable building remains from the period, she has developed tools for dating texts that cover similar ground. Other research interests include epigraphy and the history of medicine.

She is currently working on three major compendia of Ayurvedic medical practice: the Astangahrdayam, 'The Heart of Medicine', of Vagbhata; the Carakasamhita, 'Caraka's compendium'; and the Susrutasamhita, 'Susruta's compendium'.

Credentials

B.Sc. (London)
B.A. (Oxford)
Ph.D. (Oxford),

Areas of Research

• Global Asia Studies
• Classical South Asia
• Sanskrit
• Vedic and Pali
• Architecture
• Tantra
• Ayurveda