Deana Weibel

Deana Weibel is an anthropologist and author, living in Michigan, USA.

Early life and Professional career
In 2001, she earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of California, San Diego, where she began her exploration of the relationship between culture, religion, and society. As a professor of anthropology, she holds a joint appointment in the Anthropology Department and the School of Integrative Studies' Religious Studies program at Grand Valley State University.

Weibel has investigated the cultural importance of pilgrimage activities in a variety of religious traditions, including Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, through in-depth fieldwork and ethnographic investigations.

She is the co-founder and co-organizer of the Roger That! Event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Weibel has been a Fellow National in the Explorers Club and chair of the Chicago/Great Lakes chapter.

Weibel coined the term 'ultraview effect,' inspired by Frank White's 'overview effect,' to describe the transformative impact of viewing stars from space experienced by some astronauts.

Publications

 * 2013- Missionary Impositions- Conversion, Resistance, and Other Challenges to Objectivity in Religious Ethnography
 * 2020-The Overview Effect and the Ultraview Effect: How Extreme Experiences In/Of Outer Space Influence Religious Beliefs in Astronauts
 * 2020- Book Review: Space Tourism: The Elusive Dream
 * 2020- Magnificent isolation: what we can learn from astronauts about social distancing and sheltering in space
 * 2021- The Mutual Influence of Religion and Science in the Human Understanding and Exploration of Outer Space
 * 2021- Black ugliness and the covering of blue: William Shatner's suborbital flight to 'death
 * 2022- A Sacred Vertigo: Pilgrimage and Tourism in Rocamadour, France
 * 2023- Honoring and dishonoring the dead in outer space: How a Virgin Galactic spaceflight sparked a scandal in anthropology
 * 2023- The highs and lows of extreme tourism: The Titan accident and commercial expeditions to space and the deep sea
 * 2023- Cultural considerations in space exploration: Insights for NASA's Artemis 2 mission"
 * 2024- The Sacred Moon: Navigating diverse cultural beliefs in lunar missions