Doctoral student

Social Anthropology

Main research areas:

• Shamanism
• 'New Age' practices
• Globalization

Current research:

My research focuses on shamanic healing practices in the Amazon and their globalization under the phenomenon of 'New Age' healing and spiritual tourism. My current project focuses on foreigners, tourists, or otherwise outsiders that choose to relocate to the Peruvian Amazon to undergo shamanic initiation rites. It is inspired by my research of Ayahuasca tourists' ceremonial experience, where a significant number of people responded to a "calling" to practice Ayahuasca healing ceremonies themselves. 

I aim to critically evaluate the construction of the globalized shaman and investigate: What are the initiation rites that individuals undergo in these contexts? How is therapeutic authority evaluated between 'Western' and local/Indigenous practitioners? How is local ritual practice influenced by forces of globalization? These questions have implications for research in religion and spirituality, Indigenous and local knowledge, post-colonial studies, and medical anthropology.