Introduction
In 1977, Kenneth Zysk, then still a student, raised the idea of an international meeting on Asian Medicine. His professor, the late historian Arthur Llewellyn Basham willingly took up the idea and in collaboration with the medical anthropologist Charles Leslie, presented a proposal for such a meeting to members of staff at the Australian National University. It was received enthusiastically and in 1979 the first International Conference on Traditional Asian Medicine (ICTAM I) was then held in Canberra. The story of its organisation was told by the late Prof. Basham in the sixth issue of the IASTAM Newsletter in 1985. The conference was a great success with 300 participating members. On its final general meeting, IASTAM was founded, and Prof. Charles Leslie accepted the post of Secretary General to IASTAM.
IASTAM’s objective was set to be the promotion and encouragement of the study of traditional Asian medicine, including both the ‘classical’ systems and local traditions, in all their aspects - historical, philosophical, philological, anthropological, sociological, and scientific.
For the following decade, under the energetic guidance of Charles Leslie, IASTAM flourished. It was, and perhaps remains, the only international organisation in the field of Asian medicine making a serious attempt to embrace both academics and practitioners. IASTAM has always sought to give each of these communities a platform for the expression of their views, respecting the integrity of each group while nevertheless privileging the free exchange of knowledge over involvement in any particular commercial interest or therapeutic regime. Since its inception, IASTAM has held international. From 1994, IASTAM activities moved into a more evolved phase, establishing regional North American, European, and Indian chapters of the organization, which held separate regional conferences. It has published a regular newsletter and today publishes a successful, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to all aspects of Asian Medicine.
The leadership of IASTAM passed from A. L. Basham and C. Leslie to a succession of scholars and practitioners of international repute, among them, Paul U. Unschuld, Francis Zimmermann, K.N. Udupa, Hakim Mohammed Said, Margaret Lock, Lawrence I. Conrad, Domink Wujastyk, Waltraud Ernst, Vivienne Lo, Marta Hanson and Volker Scheid.
In 1986, IASTAM's founder, A.L. Basham, passed away. At that time, a prize medal was instituted in his honour. The Basham medal has subsequently been awarded to scholars in recognition of outstanding work done in the field of Asian Medicine.
On the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of IASTAM in 2009, the Charles Leslie Prize (hyperlink) will be instituted in recognition of an outstanding essay and conference presentation by a junior scholar or practitioner.
Activities and Achievements of IASTAM
1. International Congresses on Traditional Asian Medicine (ICTAM)
Since IASTAM’s first international conference in 1979 in Canberra, the organisation has continued to grow, and has held many more international conferences:
- ICTAM II in Surabaya in Indonesia (1984)
- ICTAM III in Bombay (1990)
- ICTAM IV in Tokyo (1994)
- ICTAM V in Halle (2002) “Tradition and Innovation” (www.icatm.de)
- ICTAM VI in Austin (2006) “Sense and Substance in Traditional Asian Medicine”.
At the last international conference of IASTAM in Texas, the organisation was most lucky to receive the generous invitation to hold the subsequent ICTAM in Bhutan from Dorji Wangchuk, Director of the Institute of Traditional Medicine Services, of behalf the Government of Bhutan. It was scheduled for September 2009. The invitation was unanimously accepted and the Institute of Traditional Medicine Services will host this forthcoming conference, with the generous support of the Bhutanese authorities. The government of Bhutan has a keen interest in traditional medicine, which is well integrated into its national public health care system.
The theme chosen by the IASTAM Council for the forthcoming ICTAM VII is “Asian Medicine: Cultivating Traditions and the Challenges of Globalisation.” IASTAM is expecting 150 international and 50 Bhutanese participants for this event,which will be the largest international conference held to date in Bhutan, a state that has a carefully controlled policy on international tourism and foreign visitors. The organisation is extremely grateful for the enthusiasm it has encountered from the Institute for Traditional Medicine Services in Bhutan, and the support from the Bhutanese government for the congress
The organisation of this congress by IASTAM is currently in full swing, and the latest news about the event can be found here. Submission of abstracts for the event is now closed, but we are always interested in co-operating with new individuals and organisations with overlapping interests and missions like those of IASTAM.
IASTAM invites bids for the next ICTAM congress that is scheduled for 2012.
2. Regional Conferences
After 1994, several regional chapters of IASTAM evolved, such as in North America, Europe, and India. These organizations also held separate, highly successful regional conferences.
3. Basham Award
An award in the name of Professor Arthur Llewellen Basham was instituted by Prof. Paul U. Unschuld during his period as president of IASTAM. The award is to preserve the memory of Prof. Basham, co-founder of IASTAM with Prof. Charles Leslie, and to recognize special contributions by IASTAM members to promoting the goals of IASTAM. It has so far been awarded to the following outstanding scholars in the field of Asian Medicine:
ICTAM II (1984): Yamada Keiji
ICTAM III (1990): Jan Meulenbeld
ICTAM IV (1994): Patricia and Roger Jeffery & Shigehisa Kuriyama
ICTAM V (2002): Dominik Wujastyk
ICTAM VI (2006): Narendra Bhatt & Zheng Jinsheng
4. Charles Leslie Prizes
In 2009, on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of IASTAM, we are pleased to introduce two new awards. This is to honour the work of Charles Leslie, his dedication to IASTAM and to encourage young scholars in the field that he helped to establish.
The Charles Leslie Prize, Junior Scholar Award, IASTAM, Yearly Competition
This prize is awarded to the best original, unpublished scholarly essay on Asian medicine submitted to the competition and judged by the IASTAM Council. The nominee for the award must be a junior scholar and may fall into any of the following three categories:
- a practitioner of an Asian medical tradition (with fewer than three publications),
- a graduate student, or
- a recent PhD who received his/her doctoral degree fewer than five years prior to the deadline for nomination.
There are no age restrictions on entering for this prize.
The purpose of the award is to encourage junior scholars to apply methods from anthropology, history, or any other academic discipline to the critical study of Asian medical systems in context from any period up to the present. Manuscripts must be in English. The winning essay will be announced in IASTAM publications and the society website and will be given preferential consideration for publication in the Association's journal, Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity (subject to editorial decision). Please follow the Asian Medicine journal style guidelines for the submission. Entries must be received no later than 15 January each year and the winner will be announced by 15 May of the same year. The first competition deadline will be January 15, 2010.
The Charles Leslie Presentation Prize, for the best paper presented at ICTAM by a Junior Scholar
The Charles Leslie Presentation Prize is awarded for the best paper presented at an ICTAM meeting by a junior scholar of Asian medicine: a practitioner of an Asian medical tradition (with none to no more than 3 publications), a graduate student, or a recent PhD who received his/her doctoral degree less than five years prior to the dates of the conference. There are no age restrictions on consideration for this prize. The award consists of a certificate, an announcement on the IASTAM website, and a recommendation to submit their paper to the Charles Leslie Junior Scholar Award competition.
5. IASTAM Newsletter
As of 2009, IASTAM has produced 25 issues of its informative Newsletter.
IASTAM's Newsletter was first edited by Charles Leslie (1982-84), and Francis Zimmermann (1984-89), until it was re-named Asian Medicine Newsletter in 1989. Its frequency dropped off in the early 1990s, although the issues which did appear, edited by Charles W. Nuckolls (1992-94) and Lawrence Cohen (1996) were as packed and stimulating as ever. Under the able editorship of Waltraud Ernst, IASTAM's newsletter was put back on a regular schedule, with two lively and informative issues appearing in 1998, and she continued to edit them into her presidency, during which she cooperated with Joe Alter, Maarten Bode and Emma Griffin. The same team has issued more recent newsletters since then, with the latest one in December 2006.
With the foundation of the journal Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity, under the initial editorship of Waltraud Ernst and Vivienne Lo, the academic contributions to the newsletter were reduced and instead published in the first fully-fledged, peer-reviewed journal of the organisation, externally published byBrill in Leiden. While regular updates aree still sent out to members through the newsletter, Association news is also disseminated through IASTAM’s website, http://www.iastam.org.
Previous issues of the Newsletter are now downloadable for free from this website.
6. Journal Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity
Founded in 2005 by Waltraud Ernst and Vivienne Lo, the first peer-reviewed journal of IASTAM was published later that same year by Brill in Leiden. Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity has since then been published twice a year and is now under the co-editorship of Dr Vivienne Lo and Prof. Geoffrey Samuel.
Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity is a multidisciplinary journal aimed at researchers and practitioners of Asian medicine in Asia as well as in Western countries. It makes available in one single publication academic essays that explore the historical, anthropological, sociological and philological dimensions of Asian medicine as well as practice reports from clinicians based in Asia and in Western countries.
With the recent upsurge of interest in non-Western alternative approaches, Asian Medicine: Tradition and Modernity is of relevance to those studying the modifications and adaptations of traditional medical systems on their journey to non-Asian settings. It is also be relevant to those who wish to learn more about the traditional background and practice of Asian medicine within its countries of origin. On account of its appeal to scholars from a range of academic backgrounds (such as history, anthropology, philology, sociology, and archaeology) as well as to practitioners based in Asian and Western medical institutions and alternative health care settings, the journal constitutes a unique resource for both scholarly and clinically focused institutions.
By Dominik Wujastyk & Theresia Hofer |
