Jonathan believes that when we LIVE, CONNECT, & COMMUNICATE authentically, we send out ripples…. which send out ripples… which make the world a more caring and connected place, one ripple at a time. Having seen this dynamic over 20+ years as an award-winning cultural anthropology professor and author, Jonathan feels that how we show up is the key to living deeply meaningful and fulfilling lives, and now works as a transformational life coach, consultant, and speaker to be a catalyst for exactly such transformations.
Jonathan previously worked as an Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Arkansas, where he was a founding steering committee member of the Medical Humanities program (MEDH), affiliate faculty in Gender Studies, and Director of the VIS Lab (vision.image.sense). His academic interests focus on issues of performance, embodiment, identity, and gender, with some of his most popular courses being "Culture & Medicine" and "Body & Identity." Jonathan's academic publications include four books, numerous submissions to edited volumes, journals, and encyclopedias, and he is a former President of the Society for Visual Anthropology (SVA) and the Society for Humanistic Anthropology (SHA). Example's bridging Jonathan's academic and coaching expertise include presenting on powerful questions in cross-cultural contexts for the Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) and the implications of Viktor Frankl's work for human rights issues today for the Abraham Global Peace Initiative.
Jonathan's academic training in psychological anthropology (focusing on the permeable border between personality and culture) and decades of experience teaching diverse audiences informs his facility in supporting people from diverse backgrounds, and over the past few years he has worked with clients from Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechia, Egypt, England, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and the USA. An International Coaching Federation (ICF) certified coach, Jonathan is a former course trainer for The Somatic School, served as President of an ICF Chapter, and is trained in Emotional Intelligence, Group Coaching, Positive Psychology Coaching, Clear Beliefs Coaching, and Body-oriented Coaching.
Overlapping his coaching and academic work in powerful and unexpected ways, Jonathan is also passionate about and has worked as a photographer and partnered dance instructor, now primarily focusing on Brazilian zouk. Bringing all of this together, Jonathan is passionate about supporting clients and audiences in transcending external accomplishments as measures of success to live truly aligned, rewarding, and meaningful lives.