Pizza Time

Category: Institute Activities

  • Boston Colloquium on Scientific Study of Religion

    Boston Colloquium on Scientific Study of Religion

    Announcing the 2021-2022 Boston Colloquium on the Scientific Study of Religion:
    Cognitive Science of Religion

    The Colloquium, convened by Dr. Wesley J. Wildman, meets weekly for interdisciplinary discussions of the scientific study of religion. The group is a friendly and supportive environment for people making their way in the scientific study of religion, building connections between early-career scholars and researchers. The Colloquium meets on Wednesdays from 12:30-1:20 Eastern time. Most meetings involve a discussion of a research article, a presentation by a member of the group, or a guest speaker.

    Each year, the readings and discussions are focused on a specific theme. For 2021-2022, the theme is Cognitive Science of Religion. The Colloquium will build on remote discussions over the past year to use a hybrid format that will include participants from a variety of locations. Members will attend the group, read the articles, and engage in discussions. They may also have the opportunity to present their own research.

    Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers are invited to apply to become Colloquium members for the upcoming year by emailing a CV and a short paragraph explaining your interest in the Colloquium to admin@mindandculture.org. To ensure optimal group size, the number of participants will be limited, and applications should be received before September 1, 2021. Researchers outside of Boston and Boston University are encouraged to apply.

    The Colloquium is based at Boston University and affiliated with the Center for Mind and Culture.

          

  • Hilbert problems in the study of religion

    Hilbert problems flyer

  • ExploringMyReligion.org

    ExploringMyReligion.org

    emrExploringMyReligion is IBCSR’s instant-feedback survey platform. The site presents online surveys and instantly supplies feedack to participants when they finish a survey. The feedback explains the results and helps people explore their religious and spiritual outlook.

    The kinds of surveys you can expect to find at ExploringMyReligion include:

    • Multidimensional Religious Ideology survey
    • Moral Foundations Questionnaire
    • Big Five Personality Scale
    • Spiritual Style Survey
    • Religious Literacy Survey

    If your research teacm would like to strike up a collaborative relationship with IBCSR and post surveys ExploringMyReligion, contact us.

  • ScienceOnReligion.org Resources

    ScienceOnReligion.org Resources

    sorThe Institute’s outreach site is ScienceOnReligion.org. ScienceOnReligion carries a great deal of content that is of great interest to a wide range of people, so that site gets a high volume of traffic. The kinds of content you will find on ScienceOnReligion include:

    ScienceOnReligion supports comments, so you can respond to research news articles and other content.

    You can keep up with new postings at ScienceOnReligion in three ways.

    • Like ScienceOnReligion’s Facebook page
    • Follow ScienceOnReligion via Twitter at (@SciOnRelOrg)
    • Subscribe to the ScienceOnReligion blog at Patheos.com.

     

  • IBCSR and High-Level Education

    IBCSR and High-Level Education

    IBCSR has a close relationship with Boston University, which is the home of a cutting-edge, multi-faceted PhD program in religion and science. This degree covers the scientific study of religion, empirical psychology of religion, philosophy and history of the religion-science relationship, religion and science dialogue issues, and spirituality and health research. IBCSR contributes resources and training opportunities to several phases of that degree program.

    Pictured below is IBCSR Research Fellow Kirk Wegter-McNelly’s board work part way through the derivation of the central inequality in Bell’s Theorem—the theorem that paved the way for experiments that demonstrated the necessity of non-locality in physics. This line of investigation has had a revolutionary effect on our understanding of the natural world, and poses significant challenges for philosophical and religious interpretations of nature.

    Prof. Kirk Wegter-McNelly’s derivation of the central inequality in Bell’s Theorem

     

     

     

  • Simulating Religion Project

    Simulating Religion Project

    Religion ComputerAs true as the phrase “there’s an app for that” is for cell phones, it is becoming just as true for the sciences. Need to investigate the first microseconds on the universe? There’s an app for that. Need to see how this new drug will interact with certain tissues? There’s an app for that. Want to know if a knight or samurai would win in a fight? Yes, there’s an app for that. Of course, “app” for the scientist means a simulation program. If the Simulating Religion Project (SRP) succeeds, when questions about religion’s social functions arise, scientists can answer, “There’s an app for that.”

    (more…)

  • Quantifying Religious Experience Project

    Quantifying Religious Experience Project

    Religious ecstasyWhat happens when a Catholic nun experiences God through contemplative prayer? What happens when a Hindu feels the presence of Shiva? What about the religious experiences of Sufis, Jews, Buddhists, and Daoists? The list could go on and on, but a vital question is: how similar or different are these religious experiences? The Institute’s Quantifying Religious Experience Project (QRXP) aims to provide an answer using the latest techniques in cognitive psychology and quantitative research.

    (more…)

  • Outreach Publications

    Outreach Publications

    As part of the outreach aspect of its mission, the Institute publishes material for a wide audience both online and in print media.

    ScienceOnReligion.org

    This is a busy site presenting accessible descriptions of scientific research into religious beliefs, behaviors, and experiences. Why all the traffic? Because many people are fascinated by religion and spirituality, and they rightly sense that science should be able to shed light on religious and spiritual phenomena. Check it out: scienceonreligion.org.

    Science and the World’s Religions

    Between 2010 and 2012, Patrick McNamara and Wesley J. Wildman, working on behalf of the Institute, organized a group of talented academic writers to produce new essays on science and the world’s religions. Each essay addresses a question that many ordinary people have about religion or spirituality, working through the relevant sciences and engaging at least two religions. Most essays also pursue a bio-cultural approach, befitting the purpose of the Institute. The three volumes are as follows.

    Science on Religion at Patheos

    We also maintain an outreach blog at Patheos.com, one of the world’s busiest websites dedicated to religion, for the purpose of carrying information about the scientific study of religion to the general public. The blog differs from ScienceOnReligion.org in that the essays we post are more chatty and editorial, often addressing topical issues and calling for a better-informed dialog about religion in the public sphere. Check it out: patheos.com/blogs/scienceonreligion.

    cover swr1

    Volume 1: Origins and Destinies

    Patrick McNamara and Wesley J. Wildman, eds. Science and the World’s Religions: Volume 1: Origins and Destinies. Brain, Behavior, and Evolution Series. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012.

    cover swr2

    Volume 2: Persons and Groups

    Patrick McNamara and Wesley J. Wildman, eds. Science and the World’s Religions: Volume 2: Persons and Groups. Brain, Behavior, and Evolution Series. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012.

    cover swr3

    Volume 3: Religions and Controversies

    Patrick McNamara and Wesley J. Wildman, eds. Science and the World’s Religions: Volume 3: Religions and Controversies. Brain, Behavior, and Evolution Series. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012.

  • Research Publications

    From Institute Research Projects

    For information about research publications from Institute research projects, visit the specific pages for each project using the Resources menu.

    Institute-Related Research Publications

    What follows is a list of publications from Institute researchers or Institute research projects. All are related to the Institute’s research priorities. Some have convenient links to pdfs of the articles.

     

    [Forthcoming] Wildman, Wesley J. Science and Ultimate Reality. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

    [Forthcoming] Wildman, Wesley J. “Science and Religion,” in Dawn DeVries and Brian A. Gerrish, eds., The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology (forthcoming).

    [Forthcoming] Wildman, Wesley J. “Evolution,” in Dawn DeVries and Brian A. Gerrish, eds., The New Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology (forthcoming).

    [Forthcoming] Sosis, Richard. Why are Synagogue Services so Long? An Evolutionary Examination of Jewish Ritual Signals. In Judaism and Bio-Psychology, edited by Rick Goldberg.

    [Forthcoming] McNamara, Patrick; Szent-Imrey, Reka. Understanding miracles in relationship to standard religious experiences. In J. H. Ellens (Ed.), The psychology and science of miracle healings, Volume 1, Religious and spiritual events. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    [2013] Wildman, Wesley J.; Cooley, Ian. “Neurotheology,” in James Beilby and Chad Meister, eds., The Routledge Companion to Modern Christian Thought. New York: Routledge.

    [2013] Wildman, Wesley J. “Corrington’s Ecstatic Naturalism in Light of the Scientific Study of Religion.” American Journal of Theology and Philosophy.

    [2013] Matthews, Luke Joseph; Edmonds, Jeffrey; Wildman, Wesley J.; Nunn, Charles L. “Cultural inheritance or cultural diffusion of religious violence? A quantitative case study of the Radical Reformation,” Religion, Brain & Behavior 3.1.

    [2012] Wildman, Wesley J.; Darling, John A.; Wood, Connor P. “Religion and Biological Evolution: How Well Do They Fit?” in Patrick McNamara and Wesley J. Wildman, eds., Science and World Religions, Volume 3: Religions and Controversies (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012): 125-164.

    [2012] Wildman, Wesley J. “Religious and Spiritual Experiences.” In Patrick McNamara and Wesley J. Wildman, eds., Science and World Religions, Volume 2: Persons & Groups (Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012): 91-119.

    [2012] Wildman, Wesley J. “Reframing Transcendence: Conditions for the Compatibility of Ground-of-Being Theism and Religious Naturalism,” in Niels Gregersen and Mikael Stenmark, eds., Naturalism and Beyond: Theology and the Varieties of  Naturalism. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.

    [2012] Wildman, Wesley J. “Human Beings in the Microbial Ocean.” Journal of Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Social Sciences Edition (in Chinese).

    [2012] McNamara, Patrick; Wildman, Wesley J. Science and the World’s Religions, Volume 1: Origins & Destinies. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

    [2012] McNamara, Patrick; Wildman, Wesley J. Science and the World’s Religions, Volume 2: Persons & Groups. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

    [2012] McNamara, Patrick; Wildman, Wesley J. Science and the World’s Religions, Volume 3: Religions & Controversies. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

    [2011] Wildman, Wesley J.; Sosis, Richard. “Stability of Groups with Costly Beliefs and Practices.” Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 14/3.

    [2011] Wildman, Wesley J. Religious and Spiritual Experiences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    [2011] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Artful Humanism of Don Browning.” Zygon 46/3: 698-712.

    [2011] Wildman, Wesley J. “Mark Johnston’s Naturalistic Account of God and Reality, Life and Death,” American Journal of Theology and Philosophy 32/2: 180-187.

    [2010] Wildman, Wesley J.; McNamara, Patrick. “Evaluating Reliance on Narratives in the Scientific Study of Religious Experiences.” International Journal of Psychology of Religion (20/4): 223-254.

    [2010] Wildman, Wesley J. “Distributed Identity: Human Beings as Walking, Thinking Ecologies in a Microbial World,” in Nancey Murphy and Christopher C. Knight, eds., Human Identity at the Intersection of Science, Technology and Religion (Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2010): 165-178.

    [2009] Wildman, Wesley J. Science and Religious Anthropology: A Spiritually Evocative Naturalist Interpretation of Human Life. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate.

    [2009] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Inevitability of Religion and the Wisdom of Cooperation with Science,” in Liu Xiaoting, ed., Values and Culture (in Chinese). Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press: 345-359.

    [2009] Wildman, Wesley J. “Cognitive Error and Contemplative Practices: The Cultivation of Discernment in Mind and Heart.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 29: 59-79. Translated into Chinese as “Cognitive Error and Contemplative Practices,” Journal of Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Social Sciences Edition (2012).

    [2009] Barrett, Nathaniel F.; Wildman, Wesley J. “Seeing is Believing? How Reinterpreting the Direct Realism of Perception as Dynamic Engagement Alters the Justificatory Force of Religious Experience.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 66/2: 71-86.

    [2008] Wildman, Wesley J.; McNamara, Patrick. “Challenges Facing the Neurological Study of Religious Belief, Behavior and Experience,” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 20/3: 212-242.

    [2008] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Import of Physical Cosmology for Philosophical Cosmology,” Theology and Science 6/2: 197-212.

    [2008] Wildman, Wesley J. “From Law and Chance in Nature to Ultimate Reality,” in Fraser Watts, ed. Creation, Law, and Probability (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2008): 155-179.

    [2008] Sosis, Richard; Bulbulia, Joseph. Religion in Eden, In: The Evolution of Religion: Studies, Theories, and Critiques, eds. J. Bulbulia, R. Sosis, E. Harris, C. Genet, R. Genet, K. Wyman, pp. 15-19, Santa Margarita, CA: Collins Foundation Press.

    [2008] Sosis, Richard; Alcorta, Candace. Militants and Martyrs: Evolutionary Perspectives on Religion and Terrorism, In Natural Security: A Darwinian Approach to a Dangerous World, eds. R. Sagarin and T. Taylor, pp. 105-24, Berkeley: University of California Press.

    [2008] Sosis, Richard. Pigeons, Foxholes, and the Book of Psalms: Evolved Superstitious Responses to Cope with Stress and Uncertainty. In: The Evolution of Religion: Studies, Theories, and Critiques, eds. J. Bulbulia, R. Sosis, E. Harris, C. Genet, R. Genet, K. Wyman, pp. 103-9, Santa Margarita, CA: Collins Foundation Press.

    [2008] Bulbulia, Joseph; Sosis, Richard; Genet, C.; Genet, R.; Harris, Erica; Wyman, K., eds. The Evolution of Religion: Studies, Theories, and Critiques. Santa Margarita, CA: Collins Foundation Press.

    [2007] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Use and Meaning of the Word ‘Suffering’ in Relation to Nature,” in Robert J. Russell, Nancey Murphy, and William R. Stoeger, eds., Suffering and Cosmology: Scientific Perspectives on Suffering in Nature (Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory and Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences).

    [2007] Wildman, Wesley J. “Radical Embodiment and Theological Anthropology,” in American Journal of Theology and Philosophy 28/3: 346-363.

    [2007] Wildman, Wesley J. “Incongruous Goodness, Perilous Beauty, Disconcerting Truth: Ultimate Reality and Suffering In Nature,” in Robert J. Russell, Nancey Murphy, and William R. Stoeger, eds., Suffering and Cosmology: Scientific Perspectives on Suffering in Nature (Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory and Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences).

    [2007] Wildman, Wesley J. “From Law and Chance in Nature to Ultimate Reality,” in Fraser Watts, ed. Creation, Law, and Probability (Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing).

    [2007] Sosis, Richard; Kress, Howard; Boster, James. Scars for War: Evaluating Alternative Signaling Explanations for Cross-Cultural Variance in Ritual Costs. Evolution and Human Behavior 28:234-247.

    [2007] Sosis, Richard. Psalms for Safety: Magico-Religious Responses to Threats of Terror.Current Anthropology 48:903-911.

    [2007] Sosis, Richard. Breaking the Wrong Spell: Review of “Breaking the Spell” by Daniel Dennett. Free Inquiry 27:59-60.

    [2007] Ruffle, Bradley; Sosis, Richard. Does it Pay to Pray? Costly Ritual and Cooperation. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy 7:1-35 (Article 18).

    [2007] Harris, Erica; McNamara, Patrick. Is religiousness a biocultural adaptation? In R. Genet, C. Genet, J. Bulbulia, E. Harris, R. Sosis, & K. Wyman (Eds.), The evolution of religion: Studies, theories, and critiques. Collins Family Foundation.

    [2007] Alcorta, Candace; Sosis, Richard. Rituals of Humans and Animals. In: Encyclopedia of Human-Animal Relationships, vol. 2, ed. Marc Bekoff, pp. 599-605, Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishers.

    [2006] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Significance of the Evolution of Religious Belief and Behavior for Religious Studies and Theology,” commentary and analysis essay for Patrick McNamara, ed., Evolution, Genes, and the Religious Brain, vol. 1 of Where God and Science Meet: How Brain and Evolutionary Studies Alter Our Understanding of Religion, 3 vols. (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers).

    [2006] Sosis, Richard. Religious Behaviors, Badges, and Bans: Signaling Theory and the Evolution of Religion. In: Where God and Science Meet: How Brain and Evolutionary Studies Alter Our Understanding of Religion, Volume 1: Evolution, Genes, and the Religious Brain, ed. Patrick McNamara, pp. 61-86, Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.

    [2006] Ruffle, Bradley; Sosis, Richard. Cooperation and the In-Group-Out-Group Bias: A Field Test on Israeli Kibbutz Members and City Residents. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 60:147-163.

    [2006] Park, Crystal; McNamara, Patrick. Religion, meaning, and the brain. In P. McNamara (Ed.), Where God and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion: Volume III: The psychology of religious experience (pp. 67-89). Westport, CT: Praeger Perspectives.

    [2006] Paloutzian, R.; Swenson, E.; McNamara, Patrick. Religious conversion, spiritual transformation, and the neurocognition of meaning making. In P. McNamara (Ed.), Where God and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion: Volume II: The neurology of religious experience (pp. 151-169). Westport, CT: Praeger Perspectives.

    [2006] McNamara, Patrick; Durso, Raymon; Brown, A. Religiosity in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Neuropsychiatric Disease & Treatment, 2(3), 341-348.

    [2006] McNamara, Patrick; Durso, R.; Brown, A.; Harris, E. The chemistry of religiosity: Evidence from patients with Parkinson’s disease. In P. McNamara (Ed.), Where God and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion: Volume II: The neurology of religious experience (pp. 1-14). Westport, CT: Praeger Perspectives.

    [2006] McNamara, Patrick (ed.). The frontal lobes, and the evolution of cooperation and religion. In Where God and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion: Volume II: The neurology of religious experience (pp. 189-204). Westport, CT: Praeger Perspectives.

    [2006] Emmons, R.; McNamara, Patrick. Sacred emotions and affective neuroscience: Gratitude, costly-signaling, and the brain. In P. McNamara (Ed.), Where God and science meet: How brain and evolutionary studies alter our understanding of religion: Volume I: Evolution, genes, and the religious brain (pp. 11-30). Westport, CT: Praeger Perspectives.

    [2006] Alcorta, Candace; Sosis, Richard. Why Ritual Works: A Rejection of the By-Product Hypothesis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 29:613-614.

    [2005] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Resilience of Religion in Secular Social Environments: A Pragmatic Analysis,” in Thomas M. Schmidt and Michael G. Parker, eds., Scientific Explanation and Religious Belief: Science and Religion in Philosophical and Public Discourse (Frankfurt: Mohr-Sieback): 58-80.

    [2005] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Inevitability of Religion and the Wisdom of Cooperation with Science” (in Chinese), Scientific Culture Review.

    [2005] Wildman, Wesley J. “Global Spiritual Confusion and the Neglected Problem of Excess ‘Spiritual Information’,” in Charles L. Harper, Jr., ed., Spiritual Information: 100 Perspectives (Philadelphia, PA: Templeton Foundation Press): 33-38.

    [2005] Sosis, Richard; Alcorta, Candace, eds. Special issue of Human Nature on Evolution of Religion.

    [2005] Sosis, Richard. Does Religion Promote Trust? The Role of Signaling, Reputation, and Punishment. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 1:1-30 (Article 7).

    [2005] Sosis, Richard. Methods do Matter: Variation in Experimental Methodologies and Results. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28:834-835.

    [2005] Alcorta, Candace; Sosis, Richard. Ritual, Emotion, and Sacred Symbols: The Evolution of Religion as an Adaptive Complex. Human Nature 16:323-359.

    [2004] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Resilience of Religion in Secular Social Environments: A Pragmatic Philosophical Analysis Regarding Scientific and Religious Problems” (in Chinese), Studies in Dialectics of Nature 12/20: 79-84.

    [2004] Sosis, Richard; Ruffle, Bradley. On Ritual and Cooperation Current Anthropology 45:529-531.

    [2004] Sosis, Richard; Ruffle, Bradley. Ideology, Religion, and the Evolution of Cooperation: Field Tests on Israeli Kibbutzim. Research in Economic Anthropology 23:89-117.

    [2004] Sosis, Richard; Alcorta, Candace. Is Religion Adaptive? Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27:749-750.

    [2004] Sosis, Richard. The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual. American Scientist 92:166-172.

    [2004] Sosis, Richard. Preaching Morality and Metaphysics: Review of The Evolution of Morality and Religion by Donald M. Broom. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19:566-567.

    [2004] Sosis, Richard. Insights from Ifaluk: Food Sharing Among Cooperative Fishers. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 27:568-569.

    [2003] Van Huyssteen, Wentzel; Gregersen, Niels; Howell, Nancy; Wildman, Wesley J. Encyclopedia of Science and Religion, 2 vols. New York: Macmillan Reference.

    [2003] Sosis, Richard; Ruffle, Bradley. Religious Ritual and Cooperation: Testing for a Relationship on Israeli Religious and Secular Kibbutzim. Current Anthropology 44:713-722

    [2003] Sosis, Richard; Bressler, Eric. Cooperation and commune longevity: A test of the costly signaling theory of religion. Cross-Cultural Research 37:211-239

    [2003] Sosis, Richard; Alcorta, Candace. Signaling, Solidarity, and the Sacred: The Evolution of Religious Behavior. Evolutionary Anthropology 12:264-274

    [2003] Sosis, Richard. Why aren’t we all Hutterites? Costly signaling theory and religious behavior. Human Nature 14:91-127.

    [2003] Sosis, Richard. Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society by David Sloan Wilson. Evolution and Human Behavior 24:137-143.

    [2003] McNamara, Patrick; Andresen, Jensine; Gellard, Judit. Relation of religiosity and scores on verbal and non-verbal fluency tests to subjective reports of health in the elderly. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 13(4), 259-271.

    [2002] Wildman, Wesley J. “Consciousness Expanded,” in B. V. Sreekantan and Sangeetha Menon, eds., Consciousness and Genetics: A Discussion (Bangalore, India: National Institute of Advanced Studies: 125-41.

    [2002] Sosis, Richard. Comment for Rousseau’s whale hunt? Coordination among big-game hunters. Current Anthropology: 43:553-554.

    [2002] McNamara, Patrick. The frontal lobes, social intelligence, and religious worship. Ideas for Creative Research in Neurobiology. The John Templeton Foundation (pp. 50-59).

    [2002] McNamara, Patrick.  The motivational origins of religious practices. Zygon: A Journal of Science and Religion, 37(1), 143-160.

    [2001] McNamara, Patrick. Religion and the frontal lobes. In J. Andresen (Ed.), Religion in mind (pp. 237-256). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    [2000] Wildman, Wesley J. “The State of Science-and-Religion Research at the Turn of the Century,” The Journal of Faith and Science Exchange 4: 1-14.

    [2000] Sosis, Richard. The emergence and stability of cooperative fishing on Ifaluk Atoll. In: Human Behavior and Adaptation: an Anthropological Perspective, eds. L. Cronk, N. Chagnon, and B. Irons, pp. 437-472, New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

    [2000] Sosis, Richard. Review of Ever Since Adam and Eve: the Evolution of Human Sexuality by Malcolm Potts and Roger Short, Evolution and Human Behavior 21:291-294.

    [2000] Sosis, Richard. Religion and intra-group cooperation: preliminary results of a comparative analysis of utopian communities. Cross-Cultural Research 34:70-87.

    [2000] Sosis, Richard. Costly signaling and torch fishing on Ifaluk Atoll. Evolution and Human Behavior 21:223-244.

    [1999] Wildman, Wesley J.; Brothers, Leslie A. “A Neuropsychological Semiotic Model of Religious Experiences,” in Robert John Russell, et al., eds., Neurosciences and the Person: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action (Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory and Berkeley: Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences): 348-416.

    [1999] Wildman, Wesley J. “The Use and Abuse of Biotechnology: A Modified Natural-Law Approach,” American Journal of Theology and Philosophy 20/2: 165-79.

    [1998] Wildman, Wesley J. “A Theological Challenge: Coordinating Biological, Social, and Religious Visions of Humanity,” Zygon 33/4: 571-97.

    [1998] Sosis, Richard; Feldstein, Sharon; Hill; Kim. Bargaining theory and cooperative fishing participation on Ifaluk Atoll. Human Nature 9:163-203.

    [1997] Sosis, Richard; Hill, Kim. Comment for Delayed reciprocity and tolerated theft: the behavioral ecology of food-sharing strategies. Current Anthropology 38:73-74.

    [1997] Sosis, Richard; Hill, Kim. Comment for Consumption and production: sharing and the social construction of use-value. Current Anthropology 38:42-43.

    [1996] Wildman, Wesley J.; Richardson, W. Mark (eds.) Religion and Science: History, Method, Dialogue. New York: Routledge. Translated into Russian as РЕЛИГИЯ И НАУКА: История, Метод, Диалог (2001).

    [1996] Wildman, Wesley J. “But Consciousness Isn’t Everything,” CrossCurrents 46/2: 215-20.

    [1992] McNamara, Patrick. A transpersonal approach to memory. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 24(1), 61-78.

     

  • Journal: Religion, Brain & Behavior

    Journal: Religion, Brain & Behavior

    Metrics for Religion, Brain & Behavior :

    • Impact Factor: 3.6 (2023); Five-Year Impact Factor: 3.8 (2019-2023)

    • Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR): 0.764 (2023; #7 out of 635 Religious Studies journals, 99th percentile)

    • CiteSchore: 3.0 (2023; #10 out of 644 Religious Studies journals, 98th percentile)

    Detailed journal information.

    The aim of Religion, Brain & Behavior (RBB) is to provide a vehicle for the advancement of biological research approaches to  religion at every level, from brain to behavior. RBB unites multiple disciplinary perspectives that share these interests. The journal seeks empirical and theoretical studies that reflect rigorous scientific standards and a sophisticated appreciation of the academic study of religion. RBB welcomes contributions from a wide array of biological and related disciplines, including:

    • Cognitive sciencerbbcover

    • Evolutionary psychology

    • Social psychology

    • Evolutionary anthropology

    • Neurology

    • Genetics

    • Demography

    • Neuroeconomics

    • Physiology

    • Developmental psychology

    • Psychology of religion

    • Moral psychology

    • Archaeology

    • Mimetics

    • Behavioral ecology

    • Epidemiology

    • Public health

    • Cultural evolution

    • Religious studies

    In summary, RBB considers high quality papers in any aspect of the brain-behavior nexus related to religion. RBB publishes high quality research articles, target articles with about ten solicited commentaries and an author response, case studies, and occasional review articles. Issues are published three times each year. For more information about the journal, as well as indexes of authors and articles, please review the relevant links in the Resources menu.