Her research includes areas where religious and medical discourses intersect or conflict, primarily on the subject of gender construction. Deana L. Weibel is an associate professor of anthropology, as well as chair of the anthropology department, at Grand Valley State University. She studies contemporary pilgrimage to Roman Catholic shrines, particularly in France, as well as the reinterpretation of these shrines by "religious creatives," pilgrims who practice intentional syncretism in highly individualized ways.show more