CMAC is constantly publishing new research. Find out about some of it here.
CMAC Research Associate F. LeRon Shults recently published Practicing Safe Sects: Religious Reproduction in Scientific and Philosophical Perspective. The book is now open access and anyone can download it for free! Shults’ book addresses how conceptions of supernatural agents arise…
Wesley J. Wildman, F. LeRon Shults, Saikou Diallo, Ross Gore, Justin E. Lane Secularism and Nonreligion August 2020 Abstract: The abandonment of supernatural religious beliefs and rituals seems to occur quite easily in some contexts, but post-supernaturalist cultures require a…
Rich Byrne, Gail H. Cassell, Matthew E. Downs, Florida International University, John Halamka, Shayri M. Kansagra, Leavitt Partners, Rakhee Palekar, Neelima Ramaraju, Kunal J. Rambhia, Kippy Rudy, Jay Schnitzer, Taylor Wilkerson August 2020 Introduction: The complex decision-making regarding reopening of…
A Cross-Cultural Examination of Ritual as a Signaling and Solidarity-Building Strategy Kate J. Stockly, Stephanie Arel, Megan K. DeFranza, Damian Ruck, Luke Matthews Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Vol. 14, No. 1 August 2020 Abstract: Prior research…
Editors; Saikou Y. Diallo, Wesley J. Wildman, F. LeRon Shults, Andreas Tolk About the book: This uniquely inspirational and practical book explores human simulation, which is the application of computational modeling and simulation to research subjects in the humanities disciplines.…
Research Assistant Marqueze Kennedy May 2019 Introduction: Child trafficking has been a problem for centuries. The technological advancements of the internet era, however, have brought with them an alarming growth of trafficking. Traffickers now use technologies such as social media,…
Does religion play a causal role in promoting anxiety between groups? In a recent paper published in the Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, CMAC researchers collaborated with the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC) to study anxiety…
Research Associate LeRon Shults, Research Associate Ross Gore, Executive Director Wesley J. Wildman, Collaborating Specialist Christopher Lynch, Post-Doctoral Fellow Justin E. Lane, and Collaborating Specialist Monica Toft Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Vol. 21(4) October 2018 Abstract: We propose…
Founding Director Patrick McNamara, Doctoral Fellow Kendra Holt Moore, Collaborating Specialist Yianis Papelis, Director Siakou Diallo, and Executive Director Wesley J. Wildman Dreaming, Vol 28(3) September 2018 Abstract: We pilot tested the efficacy of a virtual reality-based imagery rehearsal and rescripting…
Research Associate LeRon Shults and Ross Gore, Collaborating Specialist Carlos Lemos and Executive Director Wesley Wildman Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Volume 10 Issue 3 August 2018 Abstract: This article offers an affirmative construal of atheism: the attempt to make sense…
Research Associate LeRon Shults and Executive Director Wesley Wildman Chapter in Religion, History and Place in the Origin of Settled Life, ed. Ian Hodder July 2018 Book Summary: This volume explores the role of religion and ritual in the origin of settled life…
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’…
Post-Doctoral Fellow Joel Daniels Chapter in Reasonable Radical? Reading the Writings of Martyn Percy 2018 Book Summary: One of the most interesting voices in the Academy and the Church today is Martyn Percy. Percy, the Dean of Christ Church Oxford and a…
Khatera Alizada Energy Research & Social Science Volume 44 October 2018 Abstract: This article examines the global diffusion of two dominant renewable energy policies: feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS). It focuses on four mechanisms of policy diffusion: emulation,…
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 and Research Director Catherine Caldwell-Harris Journal of Cognition and Culture April 27, 2018 Abstract: Synchrony — intentional, rhythmic motor entrainment in groups — is an important topic in social psychology and the cognitive science of religion. Synchrony…
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 & Doctoral Fellow Kate Stockly Behavioral and Brain Sciences April 6, 2018 Abstract: Singh deploys cultural evolution to explain recurrent features of shamanistic trance forms, but fails to substantively address important distinctions between these forms. Possession trance…
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…