Guest Profile

Dr. Bonnie Glass-Coffin

Bonnie Glass-Coffin, PhD, is a visionary and a bridge builder who believes that educating the whole person head and heart should be at the core of a liberal arts education. She has been inspired to build these bridges because of the transformative experiences that she has had while studying with Peruvian shamans for more than 30 years. She has spoken about this vision with university presidents, provosts, and deans as well as students and her anthropology colleagues at places like the President's Inaugural Lecture Utah State University, the American Anthropological Association and the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges & Universities. She has written about this vision and her experiences of deep personal transformation in academic venues including Anthropology and Humanism, Anthropology of Consciousness, the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies and in popular venues including Shaman' s Drum and Sacred Fire Magazine. She has developed and piloted course curricula that celebrate this "whole person" approach to learning while providing tools for inner-exploration and development and she has been awarded both the CASE/Carnegie Professor of the Year for the State of Utah 2004, the Eleanor Roosevelt Global Citizenship Award 2010, and the Dean's Giraffe Award for "sticking your neck out" 2012. She has written two books about her work with Peruvian shamanism, The Gift of Life: Female Spirituality and Healing in Northern Peru and Lessons in Courage: Peruvian Shamanic Wisdom for Everyday Life with don Oscar Miro-Quesada.


Bonnie's special gift is articulate communication of these principles to multiple audiences. She is available to visit your campus community for keynotes and special events. She is also an endorsed teacher of the Pachakuti Mesa Tradition and leads shamanic workshop/trainings around the country. For more information about Bonnie's work, please visit http://bonnieglasscoffin.com.