Dr. Manuel Rauchholz: On Anthropology, Trauma, and Understanding Our World

Dr. Fellipe do Vale and Dr. Madison Pierce interview Dr. Manuel Rauchholz, who is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Intercultural Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Manuel has been teaching at TEDS for three years, and he also is an alumnus. He completed a ThM under Paul Hiebert at TEDS before going on to doctoral work in cultural anthropology at Heidelberg University.

The episode begins with Manuel sharing the fascinating trajectory his life has taken, beginning with his birth in Germany, through to his family’s missions work in Micronesia (especially the island of Chuuk), and followed by stretches of time in Illinois, Germany, and Japan. Manuel brings his cultural expertise and curiosity to his work, and in the episode, he emphasizes the importance of a careful and detailed understanding of human communities, both in their beauty and in the difficult things one encounters therein. Such a practice enriches seminaries and churches, for it is a way to become “all things to all people,” maintains Manuel, and doing so demonstrates love and self-giving to those communities. Manuel himself has exhibited this nuanced anthropological work in his studies on human trafficking in small island communities, and concludes with some recommendations for how Christians can be agents of good in such spaces.

Along the way, listeners will discover…

• Why Manuel thinks his wife is more German than he is
• Some of the challenges of being a cultural anthropologist, especially since people, unlike books, do not stay in one place
• How theologians, pastors, and ministers can learn from the study of culture

To learn more about Dr. Manuel Rauchholz, visit his faculty page, read one of his publications in journals like the Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, watch his recent interview on abuse and the church with the Koinonia network, or better yet, come study with him at TEDS!