"Language is the roadmap of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going. " Rita Mae Brown

See articles for various chapters of these  works.

The Pursuit of Eco-Harmony in Contemporary Culture: A Personal Ethnography

By Laurie Anderson, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, 2004, Union Institute & University
With a specialization in Cultural Ecology and Spiritual Ecology 

This autoethnographic personal narrative Project Demonstrating Excellence (dissertation) presents the results of a heuristic study to examine the lived experience of applying the values learned from the Q’ero shamans of Peru and their shamanic teachers. The search for healing alternatives turned into a journey of both cultural ecology and spiritual ecology. The result is a revolutionary spiritual praxis grounded in an ecological consciousness.

The heuristic research project combines the research question (How can I self-discover a basis of eco-harmony in this contemporary culture?) with a contemplative practice of sitting with a shaman’s mesa (a portable altar and physical embodiment of the person’s spiritual journey) to draw on perceptual and intuitive awareness in the traditional heuristic methods. The contemplative, yet healing, practice originates from the Incan shamanic practices as taught by the Q’ero of the Andes and becomes a cornerstone to the resulting basis of eco-harmony.

The resulting autoethnography examines the relationships and blurred distinctions between what is personal and what is cultural, especially with respect to the influences of the dominant U.S. culture, and examines both the inner and outer landscape of eco-harmony in contemporary culture.

Eco-harmony is defined as being in harmonious relationship – or feeling in accord – with the world and environment; and the resulting basis of eco-harmony embraces and appreciates all life and includes becoming native or indigenous to one’s land, place, and environment. The research shows the resulting life changes of applying the values of reciprocity (ayni) and principles of sustainable living in this contemporary culture, and the ability to remain authentically engaged in contemporary life.

Readers seeking personal understanding in the planetary and political drama of the contemporary world might find encouragement here that it is possible in this time of greed and exploitation to navigate an alternative or validate their own experiences.

Managing Consciously: Archetypes for 21^st Century Managers

By Laurie Anderson
MA in Management Styles 1998, Goddard College

Managing our 21^st century businesses will require a different sort of manager. One whose skills, style, values, and natural ways build collaboration and understanding – rather than continuing to allow or foster competition, judgments, blame, miscommunications, and misunderstandings between workers. This type of manager is not someone who has mastered one skill as a specialization and is being “rewarded” for his or her individual effort, but rather is someone who is a balanced warrior, healer, visionary, and exemplar.

The archetypal model for a “new manager” developed here is an interdisciplinary model combining Native American spirituality, Jungian psychology (e.g., archetypes, shadow), social change premises (e.g., the Institute for Noetic Sciences and Willis Harman), and personal growth concepts that have originated out of New Age concepts (e.g., Deepak Chopra, Shakti Gawain). This model builds especially on the work of Arrien, author of The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary.

This model is a mechanism to bring consciousness into the management practice. In order for businesses to handle the sweeping changes of our world, we need to bring consciousness into our businesses. These 21^st century leaders must work on themselves in a deep and personal way, so they can control their urges to be omnipotent with their power, and instead, incorporate right use of power. These personal transformations will result in themselves changing, in their interactions with their surroundings changing, and in their surroundings changing as well. It’s a cycle that doesn’t end there, as transformed businesses transform their leaders as well.