CMAC’s Executive Director Dr. Wesley J. Wildman wrote the following article for The Conversation, summarizing some of the findings of the Modeling Religion Project. It is reprinted below with permission. This article has also been featured in the San Francisco…
Founding Director Patrick McNamara and Co-Author Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences Special Issue: The Evolution of Language June 2018 Abstract: The mesocortical dopaminergic system innervates two major forebrain networks important in language processing: the frontal–parietal network (FPN) and the ‘social brain’…
Researchers in CMAC’s Tools against Child Sex Trafficking Project (TACT) are building computational policy models to virtually evaluate and experiment with anti-human trafficking policy options. This project also aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of computational modeling and simulation in analyzing…
SPIRIT TECH: THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED SPIRITUALITY In 2017, best-selling author Jonathan Robinson explained his, well, let’s say innovative, approach to spirituality: “I like playing mad scientist. You know, you try one thing and see what effect it…
When most people think of the study of religion, they think of ancient languages, sacred texts, congregational surveys, or anthropologists setting up camp in a tribal society. What if we could use computer simulations to recreate historical events, learn about…
Post-Doctoral Fellow Khatera Alizada 36th System Dynamics PhD Colloquium at SUNY Albany May 11, 2018 Colloquium Summary: The Colloquium will draw together junior and senior system dynamicists from MIT-RPI-UAlbany and other universities to share their projects. Learn More about the Colloquium…
From the Roman Empire to the USSR, even the most sophisticated societies eventually collapse, leaving behind ruins, a displaced populace, or (at best) a whole lot of unpleasant paperwork. But some societies last a lot longer than others. Why? One…
Research Associate Megan K. DeFranza, Post-Doctoral Fellow Stephanie N. Arel, Doctoral Fellow Kate Stockly Theology and Sexuality Volume 24 Issue 2 (Special Issue) May 2018 Abstract: This collection of essays arose from the conference “Sex on the Margins: Navigating Religious, Social,…
Post-Doctoral Fellow Connor Wood Presbyterian Church in Sudbury MA USA May 4, 2018 Learn More about the Lecture
Many American girls have been taught to consider their wedding day the “happiest day of their life.” But how do we reconcile that sense of hope with the fact that entering into an intimate relationship with a man is one…
The Tools against Child Trafficking (TACT) project equips anti-trafficking efforts with the necessary resources to accelerate their solutions. The 3P Directory is one such tool. The Directory categorizes anti-trafficking organizations based on their key activities in three policy dimensions –…
Post-Doctoral Fellow Khatera Alizada Complexity and Policy Studies (CAPS) 2018 Conference at the Computational and Public Policy Lab at George Mason University, Arlington VA USA April 20, 2018 Conference Summary: Complexity and Policy Studies (CAPS) offers a forum for addressing these issues…
Executive Director Wesley J. Wildman and Research Associate LeRon Shults Emergent Behavior in Complex Systems Engineering: A Modeling and Simulation Approach April 16, 2018 Chapter Summary: This chapter begins with a primer on basic philosophical distinctions pertaining to emergence: weak emergence,…
Post-Doctoral Fellow Connor Wood Museum of Science, Boston MA USA March 24, 2018 View More Information
Post-Doctoral Fellow Justin Lane Religion, Brain and Behavior March 21, 2018 Lane writes a commentary for a symposium on Taves’ Revelatory Events: Three Case Studies of the Emergence of New Spiritual Paths. Introduction: “Revelatory Events” (2016) is definitive of the current…
Research Associate LeRon Shults February 12, 2018 Book Description: Where do gods come from – and what is the cost of bearing them? In Practicing Safe Sects F. LeRon Shults argues for the importance of having “the talk” about the causes and consequences…
Post-Doctoral Fellow Connor Wood Rabbis Without Borders Alumni Retreat at the Pearlstone Center, Reisterstown MD USA February 12, 2018 Retreat Summary: No matter where we all fall on the political, cultural and religious spectrum, we are all struggling in some way…
Research Associates Ross Gore and LeRon Shults, Executive Director Wesley Wildman and Co-Authors Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation January 31, 2018 Abstract: We employ existing data sets and agent-based modeling to forecast changes in religiosity and existential security among…
Collaborating Specialist Carlos Lemos 2018 Book Description: This Brief revisits and extends Epstein’s classical agent-based model of civil violence by considering important mechanisms suggested by social conflict theories. Among them are: relative deprivation as generator of hardship, generalized vanishing of the…
Executive Director Wesley Wildman, Research Associate LeRon Shults and Co-Author Proceedings of the 2017 Winter Simulation Conference December 2017 Abstract: Human simulation (applying Modeling and Simulation (M&S) to topics in the humanities, the interpretative social sciences, and the arts) is a…