Want to Study the Science of Religion? Start with this MOOC
This article was originally published at Patheos and has been reprinted with permission. Want to study the science of religion? Start with this MOOC
Category Past Projects
Presentation: A ‘Big Theory’ Approach to Religious Change
Executive Director Wesley Wildman American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting: Cognitive Science Group and IACSR November 19, 2016 Conference Summary: Join us for the 2016 AAR and SBL Annual Meetings in San Antonio! More than 1,200 events—academic sessions, additional meetings, receptions,…
New Publication: The Atheist Machine
Research Associate LeRon Shults Deleuze and the Schizoanalysis of Religion September 22, 2016 Book Description: This volume brings together some of the leading voices in the field of Deleuze studies to explore – and practice – a variety of approaches to…
Presentation: Costly Signaling, Religion and Self-Control
Doctoral Fellow Connor Wood 6th Biennial Meeting of the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion August 22, 2016 Description: A new model and computer simulation of the relationship between religion self-regulation and mental well-being. Learn More About the…
New Publication: Evolutionary Psychology and Religion
Post-Doctoral Fellow Justin Lane and Co-Author Chapter in Religion: Mental Religion August 12, 2016 Book Summary: Religion: Mental Religion is part of the Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks series dedicated to the study of religion. Composed of twenty-two thematic chapters, this volume highlights religion,…
New Publication: Impacts of Religious Semantic Priming
Doctoral Fellows Jonathan Morgan and Chris Halloran, Founding Director Patrick McNamara, Executive Director Wesley Wildman, Research Assistant April Minsky and Co-Authors Neuropsychologia August 2016 Abstract: The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that religious primes would influence…
Presentation: Computer Simulation for the Scientific Study of Religion
Executive Director Wesley Wildman University of Otago July 26, 2016 Description: The Puzzle of Modeling Religious Cognition
New Publication: A Potential Case of Remission of Parkinson’s Disease
Doctoral Fellow Jonathan Morgan, Founding Director Dr. Patrick McNamara and Co-Authors Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine Volume 13.3 July 5, 2016 Abstract: We present the case of a 78-year-old male who, 16 years ago, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD)…
New Publication: Possible Selves in Patients with Right- Versus Left-Onset Parkinson’s Disease
Founding Director Patrick McNamara, Post-Doctoral Fellow Erica Harris and Co-Author Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition May 4, 2016 Abstract: Possible selves can be used to self-regulate and guide behavior towards what is desired to be achieved or avoided in life. Previous work…
Religion for Breakfast Vlog Interview
This article was originally published at Patheos and has been reprinted with permission. In which I am interviewed for a Vlog
New Publication: Can Theism Be Defeated?
Research Associate LeRon Shults Religion, Brain & Behavior Book Symposium on A Natural History of Natural Theology February 18, 2016 Read the Article
New Publication: How to Survive the Anthropocene
Research Associate LeRon Shults Religions June 17, 2015 Abstract: Why is it so easy to ignore the ecological and economic crises of the Anthropocene? This article unveils some of the religious biases whose covert operation facilitates the repression or rejection…
New Publication: Who is Atheism Hard On?
Research Associate LeRon Shults Syndicate: A New Forum of Theology Response to a Symposium on Theology after the Birth of God May 11, 2015 Intro: Many readers of Syndicate will know that I was a (more or less) progressive Christian theologian…
New Publication: What’s the Use? Pragmatic Reflections on Neville’s Ultimates
Research Associate LeRon Shults American Journal of Theology & Philosophy Vol. 36 No. 1 January 2015 Intro: For readers familiar with Robert Neville’s expansive literary corpus, one of the first questions that arises when confronted with volume 1 of his trilogy on Philosophical Theology…
New Publication: Neuroscience Can Contribute to Pastoral Care and Counseling
Founding Director Patrick McNamara Sacred Spaces Volume 7 2015 Abstract: The neuroscience literature supports the idea that spiritual transformation is a powerful behavioral and cognitive change process involving fundamental alterations in the sense of self. Brain regions that are known to mediate the…
New Publication: Theology After the Birth of God
Research Associate LeRon Shults 2014 About: Engaging recent developments within the bio-cultural study of religion, Shults unveils the evolved cognitive and coalitional mechanisms by which god-conceptions are engendered in minds and nurtured in societies. He discovers and attempts to liberate a…
New Publication: Understanding Atheism/Non-Belief
Research Associate Catherine Caldwell-Harris Religion, Brain and Behavior April 27, 2012 Abstract: A compelling body of scholarship exists which proposes that religious and spiritual beliefs exist in every human society because they reflect fundamental aspects of evolved human nature. This raises…
Publication: Exploring the Atheist Personality
Research Associate Catherine Caldwell-Harris and Co-Authors Mental Health, Religion & Culture October 12, 2010 Abstract: Atheists are America’s least trusted group, and stereotypes about them abound: Atheists are non-conformist, sceptical, cynical, and joyless, rarely experiencing awe. Atheists (N = 42) were recruited from…