About Me:

Rachel Mann, PhD founded MettaKnowledge for Peace to heal the effects of trauma, violence, and conflict on our bodies, minds and spirits in both individuals and communities in order to foster a lasting worldwide peace with the best tools from the western sciences, social sciences, psychology, Buddhism and the new shamanism in the West. She offers private shamanic healing sessions, a complete curriculum on contemporary shamanism, and consulting to organizations working with problems of our collective suffering. She is also director of Peace is the Human Way project, a digital archive of the teachings of peace of living and deceased Native Americans.

Occupation:

Healer, Educator, Consultant

Education:

BA Russian Studies, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
MA Soviet Studies, University of Virginia
PhD Slavic Folklore and Anthropology, University of Virginia
Four Winds Society Healing the Light Body School
Psychodrama for Trauma Survivors

Contact Information:

rachel@mettaknowledge.com
434-227-0538

Research Interests:

Native American spirituality, shamanism, peace and violence studies

Publications:

Should Non-Natives Practice Indigenous Religions?

Spirituality & Health, November/December, 2008. In this personal reflection, I discuss the ethical complexities of being a white woman of European ancestry who is a student of indigenous spirituality. Click here for the article on line.
A Shrine of Healing: Cherokee Practices and Spiritual Integration

Published in Wildfire: A Journal of Native American Culture, Fall, 1996.
Story and Healing in Action: New Methods for Fostering Heart-to-Heart Dialogue about Race

Co-authored with John Alexander, Multicultural Education, Volume 11, No. 2 (Winter, 2003): 49-54. For a pdf of the article, click: Story and Healing in Action
University of Virginia Media Coverage for “Story and Healing”: An Innovative Course on Racism, Trauma and Healing

An innovative undergraduate course (note that the web site no longer is available except the home page) developed from 1996-2006 by Rachel Mann and John Alexander at the University of Virginia dealing with racism through the lens of trauma, story and healing was featured in UVA’s Top News on May 3, 2004.
The Phenomenology of Violence and Imaginal Portal to Healing: Combining Academic and Indigenous Perspectives to Promote Community Healing from Violence and Oppression

Co-authored with Roberta Culbertson, Director, Institute on Violence and Survival, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Conference Proceedings for Continuity and Change: Perspectives on Science and Religion, sponsored by the Metanexus Institute, Philadelphia, PA, June 8-11, 2006. For a PDF file of the article, click: Metanexus PDF on The Phenomenology of Violence and Peace
A Day in the Life of Thomas Baggett: Peacemaking, Technology & the Making of International Intellectual Community

Published in Change, Jan/Feb, 2001.
Seminar on Shamanism and Violence: Academic and Practice Perspectives

A report on the seminar held on March, 2006 and sponsored by the Center on Violence and Community at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities bringing together scholars, healers, teachers, and others to discuss how shamanic perspectives can help us understand and ameliorate violence. For a copy of the report, click here: Seminar on Shamanism and Violence: Academic and Practice Perspectives (2006)

Affiliation:

MettaKnowledge for Peace

Link:

http://www.mettaknowledge.com

My Website:

http://www.mettaknowledge.com