The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, UVA is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the United States. Throughout its history, the university has been a center for groundbreaking research in various fields, including the department of perceptual studies.
The department of perceptual studies at UVA was founded in 1967 by Ian Stevenson, a psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry interested in studying the phenomenon of past-life memories. Stevenson’s interest in this field was piqued after encountering a young Sri Lank girl who claimed to remember a past life as a teacher.
He subsequently devoted his career to investigating cases of children who reported memories of past lives. Over fifty years, the department of perceptual studies has conducted extensive research on this topic and has published numerous books and articles detailing their findings.
The Case of the WWII Pilot
One of the most compelling examples of the department’s research is the case of a young boy named James Leininger, who began recounting vivid memories of being a WWII pilot at the age of two. Leininger’s parents were initially skeptical of his claims.
Still, after researching, they discovered that a WWII pilot named James Huston Jr. had died in the same way that Leininger described. The department of perceptual studies conducted an investigation into the case, interviewing Leininger and his family, and ultimately concluded that the boy’s memories were consistent with those of James Huston Jr.
The Case of Shanti Devi
Another interesting case that the Department of Perceptual Studies investigated involved a young girl named Shanti Devi, who claimed to remember a past life as a woman named Lugdi Devi. Stevenson traveled to India to investigate the case and verified many details of Shanti’s memories, including that Lugdi Devi had lived in a village unknown to anyone in Shanti’s current village.
The department’s research on this case was later published in a book called “Twenty Cases…