Published Works

  • Deathworlds to Lifeworlds

    Collaboration with Strangers for Personal, Social and Ecological Transformation
    Valerie Malhotra Bentz and James Marlatt

    Deathworlds are places on planet earth that can no longer sustain life. These are increasing rapidly. We experience remnants of Deathworlds within our Lifeworlds (for example traumatic echoes of war, genocide, oppression). Many practices and policies, directly or indirectly, are Deathworld-Making. They undermine Lifeworlds contributing to community decline, illnesses, climate change, and species extinction. This… More Deathworlds to Lifeworlds

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  • Handbook of Transformative Phenomenology

    by Valerie Malhotra Bentz, James Marlatt, and Carol Estrada

    This book offers an introduction to Phenomenology, an emerging field of socio-cultural research and practice that encourages positive change for practitioners at every level in modern society. Put briefly, Transformative Phenomenology is the study of human consciousness, and ways in which an enriched awareness can help individuals achieve personal, professional or organizational goals. Particularly today,… More Handbook of Transformative Phenomenology

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  • Expressions of Phenomenological Research

    Consciousness & Lifeworld Studies
    by David Rehorick, Ayumi Nishii, Lori K. Schneider, Ann Wilson, Michael Wilson, Valerie M. Bentz, Jo-Anne Clarke, Dorianne Cotter-Lockard, Shirley G. Knobel, Carol G. Laberge, James L. Marlatt

    Over the past four decades, phenomenology and hermeneutics have increasingly been embraced by scholars who are not strictly philosophical phenomenologists-- including educators, health professionals and social scientists. As such, varying views have arisen as to what really constitutes phenomenological inquiry. … More Expressions of Phenomenological Research

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  • Contemplative Social Research

    Caring for Self, Being and Lifeworld
    by Valerie M. Bentz and Vincenzo M. B. Giorgino

    Contemplative Social Research brings together research and insights from scholars throughout Europe and North America, and from a variety of social science disciplines. The book argues that contemplative-based inquiry is unique in recognizing the deep oneness of humanity, since it requires embodied awareness as well as openness to the transpersonal dimensions of the human experience.… More Contemplative Social Research

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  • Novel: Flesh & Mind

    The Time Travels of Dr. Victoria Von Dietz
    by Valerie Bentz

    Dr. Victoria Von Dietz’s arrogant husband betrays her when he beds a flirtatious coed. Her feminist and antiwar views keep her from getting tenure. Meanwhile she’s infatuated with American pragmatic philosopher George Herbert Mead and German existentialist Martin Heidegger, both dead. So, when Victoria discovers she has the ability to escape her life and travel back to the time of her favorite philosophers, even if it means landing in Nazi Germany, she takes the plunge. … More Novel: Flesh & Mind

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  • Transformative Phenomenology

    Changing Ourselves, Lifeworlds, and Professional Practice
    by David Allan Rehorick and Valerie Malhotra Bentz

    Transformative Phenomenology captures the influence of phenomenology and hermeneutics on non-university-based scholar-practitioners who completed their doctoral education in later life, thus blending their workplace experiences with their intellectual interests. Contributions from seasoned university-based scholars expands our understanding of phenomenological inquiry in fresh ways. The concept of “transformative phenomenology” springs from the longterm teaching and research… More Transformative Phenomenology

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  • Mindful Inquiry in Social Research

    by Valerie Malhotra Bentz and Jeremy J. Shapiro

    This innovative introduction to research in the social sciences guides students and new researchers through the maze of research traditions, cultures of inquiry and epistemological frameworks. It introduces the underlying logic of ten cultures of inquiry: ethnography; quantitative behavioral science; phenomenology; action research; hermeneutics; evaluation research; feminist research; critical social science; historical-comparative research; and theoretical… More Mindful Inquiry in Social Research

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  • Visual Images of Women in the Arts and Mass Media

    by Valerie Malhotra Bentz, Philip E. F. Mayes

    Women's power and roles as portrayed in visual images of women in the arts and mass media.… More Visual Images of Women in the Arts and Mass Media

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  • Becoming Mature

    Childhood Ghosts and Spirits in Adult Life
    by Valerie Malhotra Bentz

    Presents an integrated theory of development and maturation focusing on the influence of childhood experience on adult women. The book draws on the theories of Mead, Habermas, and Schutz, and on narratives and group discussions to analyze case studies.

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