About Anne Vallely

Anne Vallely is a founding member of Academy of Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies and a member of several other organisations in contemplative studies. She has developed unique education offerings at Ottawa, as transdisciplinary options in Contemplative Studies and Well-being that employ first-person experiential modes of inquiry (including meditation) combined with traditional methods of analysis in the study of states of mind.

Her research falls within the broad field of the Anthropology of Religion, with a focus on South Asian religion, especially that of Jainism. Her research interests include ecology, animals, human/non-human boundaries, gender, death rituals and mourning, asceticism and the body, spirit possession and women's religious lives. She is interested in the field of contemplative studies, pedagogy, and contemporary Judaism. Methodologically, Anne approaches these fields with a particular interest in the aesthetics of religious experience and phenomenology. In addition to her regular courses, Anne offers an Overseas India Summer Course with a focus on the religious and cultural tradition of Jainism.

Anne Vallely is invited to the Advisory Committee as an expert in contemplative practices from the field of religious studies and with a knowledge and experience of teaching transdisciplinary and practice-based contemplative studies.