Adrie Kusserow is a writer, anthro-poet, anthropologist, professor.

I am a cultural anthropologist born and raised in Vermont with special interests in refugees, social inequalities, anthropology of religion/spirituality, cultural conceptions of emotions/self, illness and healing. I write about my applied ethnographic field work in these areas through creative nonfiction and ethnographic prose poetry.  

The Trauma Mantras: A Memoir

Foreword by Yusef Komunyakaa 

Available for Presale September 2023

The Trauma Mantras is a memoir written by medical anthropologist, teacher and writer Adrie Kusserow who has worked with refugees and on humanitarian projects in Bhutan, Nepal, India, Uganda, South Sudan and the U.S. 

It is a memoir of witness and humility, and ultimately a way to critique and gain a fresh perspective on Western approaches to the self, suffering and healing. Kusserow interrogates the way American culture prizes a psychologized individualism, the supposed fragile self. In relentlessly questioning the Western tribe of individualism with a hunger to bust out of such narrow confines, she hints at the importance of widening the American self. As she delves into humanity’s numerous social and political ills, she does not let herself off the hook, rigorously reflecting on her own position and commitments. Kusserow travels the world in these poetic meditations, exploring the desperate fictions that `East’ and `West’ still cling to about each other, the stories we tell about ourselves and obsessively weave from what dominant cultural meanings surround us.  

About the Cover Artist

Ang Tsherin Sherpa was born into an artists’ family in Nepal and trained as a traditional painter by his father, who was a renowned artist from Ngyalam, Tibet. He has exhibited globally and is represented in the collections of leading museums. He is one of the foremost artists from the Himalayan region in his generation. Sherpa is based in Kathmandu and engaged in bringing more visibility to the Himalayan arts. 

Ethnography/ Ethnopoetry/ Memoir:

Learn more about Adrie’s writings by visiting the writings page.

“As an anthropologist and poet, Kusserow enacts and lays bare for all to see the TRUTH of this troubled, yet glorious world! Buy this book!” 
-Peter Conners, Editor, BOA Editions 

“Amazing and soulful - a poetic but anthropological meditation on the Western longing for the spirit of the East.” 
-anonymous 

"With subtle insight and a poet's eye for the telling detail, Adrie Kusserow grapples with the great hidden fact of American life: social class.”
-editorial review

Applied Anthropology: Fieldwork and humanitarian projects

Bhutan Centre for Media and Democracy, Thimphu and Paro, Bhutan 

  • Media Nomads Youth media literacy program, Teachers Workshop on helping rural Bhutanese students critique social media (Facebook Fictions, fake news, advertisements). For more information visit https://bcmd.bt/.

  • SECMOL Student Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, Leh, Ladakh: “Rural Ladakhi Youth Media Literacy Programs” 

    • Semi-structured interviews, participant observation with student focus groups centered on developing critical awareness of violence in the media, Facebook Fictions, global media stereotypes of women, advertisements and fake news. To learn more visit https://secmol.org/.

  • Bhutanese Elderly Refugee Wellbeing Assessment Project: Community Health Center, Burlington, Vermont, Champlain Valley Agency on Aging, conducted semi-structured interviews and life histories with a translator.