UPCOMING LECTURES:

PAST LECTURES:

“Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not,” Southeast Evolutionary Perspectives Society, Savannah, GA 2-9-18

“Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not,” Department of Literature and Philosophy, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 2-8-18

“Autism, Supernatural Agent Attribution, and Religiosity,” Conference on Supernatural Agent Attribution, Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 10-27/28-17

“The History of Science and the Science of History,” Conference on The Natural Method:  Ethics, Mind, and the Self, Department of Philosophy, Duke University, Durham, NC  9-28-17

“Gods in Disorder:  Schizophrenia, Religious Experience, and Hearing Voices,” Neurophilosophy Forum, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 3-3-17

“A General Assertion Is Worth Innumerable Pictures,” Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport, PA 2-7-17

“Schizophrenia, Religious Experience, and Disownership of Self,” (with George Graham), Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Atlanta, GA 10-29-16

“Schizophrenia, Religious Experience, and Disownership of Self,” (with George Graham), International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 8-23-16

The Cognitive Unnaturalness of Abstract Reasoning and Science Academic Excellence Symposium, Daytona State College, Daytona, Florida 3-4-16

 Maturationally Natural Cognition and the Human Susceptibility to Acquire Religious Representations Developmental Group, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh 4-7-16

“The Cognitive By-Product Theory and Explanatory Pluralism in Science,” Workshop on Explaining Religion:  Cognitive Science of Religion and Naturalism, Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 12-4-15

“Religious Experience, Schizophrenia, and Disownership of Self,” (with George Graham) at session on Cross-Cultural and Cognitive Approaches to Changes in Sense of Self, American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, GA 11-21-15

“Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not,” Workshop on Breaking New Ground in the Science-Religion Dialogue, University of Texas Austin, Austin, Texas, 4-10-15

“Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not,” Honors Forum Lecture, University of Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 3-31-15

“Explanatory Pluralism and the Cognitive Science of Religion,” Department of Religion, Middlebury College, Middebury, Vermont, 3-13-15

“Maturationally Natural Cognition Impedes Science and Facilitates Religion,” Center for Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 3-6-15

“Why Religion is Natural and Science is Not,” Conference on Cognition, Religion, and Science, University of Macau, Macau, China, 1-13-15

“The Evolution Revolution in the Study of Religion,” Conference on Prosociality in History, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada, 10-17-14

“Four Ways Science Progresses,” Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 9-26-14

“Religion and Cognitive Science:  Many Splendored Things,” International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 6-20-14

“Cognitive Influences on Cultural Transmission: Memory and Religious Ritual,” 2014 Saler Lecture, Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University, 3-31-14

“The Cognitive Foundations of Science and Religion,” Cognitive Science Program and Department of Philosophy, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1-31-14

“Cognitive Influences on Cultural Transmission: Memory and Religious Ritual,” Conference on Ancient Religion and Cognition, University of London, Senate House, London, United Kingdom, 1-13-14

“CSR²: Cross-Scientific Relations and the Cognitive Science of Religion” LEVNYA Workshop, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 11-2-13

“Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not, ”Alamshah Distinguished Lecture, Department of Philosophy, California State University at Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, 10-3-13

“Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not, ”Conference on “Is Christianity Natural? Evolutionary and Cognitive Science Perspectives,” Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA 9-13-13

“It is the Best of Times,” International Association of the Cognitive Science of Religion, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany 7-31-13

“Why Science Is Exceptional and Religion Is Not,” Los Angeles Area Cognitive Science of Religion Research Group, Pasadena, CA 4-27-13

“Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not,” Department of Religious Studies, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, 4-25-13

“Exploring Sexual Selection Theory as a New Path in the Cognitive Science of Religion:  Comments on Slone, Van Slyke, and McCorkle,” American Academy of Religion
McCormick Place, Chicago, IL, 11-17-12

“Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not,” Atlanta Freethought Society, Atlanta, GA, 11-11-12

“Ritual and Memory – An Update.” Remembering: The Legacy of Dick Neisser at Emory University, Department of Psychology, Atlanta, GA 10-6-12

“Why Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not,” Department of Philosophy Neurophilosophy Forum, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA , 9-21-12

“Philosophical Naturalism and the Cognitive Science of Religion,” Workshop on Naturalizing Religion, Center for Philosophical Research and the Polish Academy of Science, Marie Curie Skolodowska University, Kazimierz Dolny, Poland 7-3-12

“Scientific Method as Cultural Innovation,” Ernst Strungmann Forum on Cultural Evolution, Frankfurt, Germany 5-28-12

“How Religions Engage Our Mental Machinery,” Conference on Neuroscience and the Humanities, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 4-12-12

“Ritual and Community as a Double-Edged Sword” (panel presentation), Panel on Celebrating Embodied and Transformative Worship and Ritual, American Academy of Religion, San Francisco, CA , 11- 19-11

“Maturationally Natural Cognition Hinders Science and Facilitates Religion” at the Conference on Reason and Belief in the Societies of Knowledge, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain July 5-6, 2011

“Distinguishing Practiced and Maturational Naturalness,” Conference on the Psychological Foundations of Individual Behavior in Organizations, Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 4-15-11

“Maturationally Natural Cognition and Radically Counter-Intuitive Science,” Conference on the Theory Ladenness of Experience Heinrich Heine Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany, 3-11-11

“The Role of Maturationally Natural Cognition in Science and Religion,” Center for the Study of Religion, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 10-21-10

“Taking a Cognitive Point of View: Religions as Rube Goldberg Devices,” Conference on Explaining Religion, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, 9-2-10

“Taking a Cognitive Point of View: Religions as Rube Goldberg Devices,” International Association for the History of Religions, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 8-17-10

“Cognitive Social Science and the Study of Religion,” Cognitive Science Society, Portland, OR 8-11-10

“Religious Ritual in Its Place,” Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) Conference, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 5-1-10

“Taking a Cognitive Point of View: Religions as Rube Goldberg Devices,” Keynote Address, Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta, GA, 4-16-10

“Accommodating Diachronic Theories in Philosophical Models of Cross-Scientific Relations Among the Cognitive Sciences,” Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, 02-20-09

“Why Cognitive Science Poses NO Threat to Religious Studies,” Annual Meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Religion, Chicago, Illinois, 11-01-08

“The Importance of Being ‘Ernest’ ”

Annual Meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Religion
Chicago, Illinois, 10-31-08
Conference on Integrating the Humanities and the Sciences, University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, 9-28-08
Department of Psychology, Emory University, 10-28-08

“The Role of Maturationally Natural Cognition in Science and Religion”

Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University, Princeton, New
Jersey, 2-7-08
Science Studies Program, University of California at San Diego, 1-26-09
Center for the Study of Religion, The Ohio State University, Columbus,
Ohio, scheduled for 10-21-10

“Maturationally Natural Cognition in Science and Religion,” Cognition and Culture Workshop, Cognitive Science Society, Nashville, Tennessee, 8-1-07

“Maturationally Natural Cognition, Science, and Religion,” Ian Ramsey Centre, Oriel College, Oxford University, Oxford, England, 5-3-07

Delivering the initial Distinguished Award Lecture at Oxford, 4-24-2007

Distinguished Award Lectures on The Cognitive Foundations of Science and Religion at the Center for Anthropology and Mind, Oxford University (sponsored by the Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology)

Lecture 1 (4-24-07): “Natural Cognition”
Lecture 2 (4-25-07): “The Cognitive Unnaturalness of Science”
Lecture 3 (5-1-07): “The Cognitive Naturalness of Religion”
Lecture 4 (5-2-07): “Unexpected Consequences Arising from the Cognitive
Comparison of Science and Religion”

“Opportunities for and Varieties of Cross-Scientific Collaborations,” Perspectives on the Human Sciences Lecture Series, Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford University, Oxford, England, 2-23-07

“Comparing the Cognitive Foundations of Science and Religion,”

Queen’s College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, 3-14-07
Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 1-12-07
J. James Wood Lecture, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN, 11-2-06
Department of Philosophy, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 10-19-06
2005 Vivian Lamb Lecture, Augustinian Institute, Villanova University,
Philadelphia, PA, 2-15-06

“Enriching Philosophical Models of Cross Scientific Relations: Incorporating Diachronic Theories,” Conference on Reduction of Cognition to Neurophysiology, Institut Jean Nicod, CNRS, Paris, 6-19-06

“The Cognitive Foundations of Religious Rural Patterns,” Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 6-3-06

“The Importance of Being Earnest: The Influence of the Cognitive Representation of Action on Religious Ritual Systems,”

Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 11-7-06
Conference on the Origins of Cognition, Culture, and Religion, University of
Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark, 1-5-06

“Philosophical Naturalism and the New Psychology of Religion,” American Philosophical Association (Pacific Division), San Francisco, CA, 3-27-05

“Explanatory Pluralism and the Cognitive Science of Religion,” Keynote Address for Conference on Individual and Holist Methodologies in the Study of Religion, University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark, 12-3-04

“The Diachronic Cognitive Penetrability of the Visual Input System: The Mueller-Lyer Illusion” (with J. Henrich), Joint meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology and the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, 7-4-04

“Four Ways of Achieving Stability in Religious Ritual Systems,” Midwest American Academy of Religion, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, 4-3-04

“Cognition, Science, and Religion”

Department of Philosophy, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, 2-4-05
Department of Religion, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 10-5-04
Keynote for 11th Annual May 4th Graduate Student Philosophy Conference, Kent
State University, Kent, OH, 3-12-04
College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 2-27-04
Atlanta Area University of Chicago Alumni Club, Emory University, Atlanta, GA,
1-11-03

“Intertheoretic Relations in Science and the Fate of Folk Psychology (Ending with Some Brief Reflections on the Character of Moral Knowledge),” Ethics Center Faculty Seminar on Neuro-Ethics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 5-16-03

Symposia on Bringing Ritual to Mind

Midwest American Academy of Religion, De Paul University, Chicago, IL, 4-5-03
North American Association for the Study of Religion, Atlanta, GA, 11-21-03
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Norfolk, VA, 10-25-03

“The Cognitive Foundations of Religious Ritual”

American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, GA, 11-24-03
Conference on the Cognitive Foundations of Religion, Program in Culture
and Cognition, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 3-29-02

“Psychological Constraints on Religious Ritual Patterns”

Midwest American Academy of Religion, De Paul University, Chicago, IL, 4-6-02
Program in Cognitive Science, Villanova University, Philadelphia, PA, 2-20-02

“Balance in Religious Ritual Systems,” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Columbus, OH, 10-20-01

“Heuristic Identity Theory,” 37th Annual Philosophy Colloquium, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, 5-12-01

“The Cognitive Foundations of the Conflicts between Science and Religion” Symposium on Reconciliation in Celebration of the Millennium, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 1-27-01

“Explaining the Connection between Religious Ritual and Emotion: A Dynamical Systems Account of Religious Ritual Patterns”

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Houston, TX, 10-21-00
XIV Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Durban,
South Africa, 8-10-00

“The Irreducibility of Consciousness and the Appearance-Reality Distinction,” Keynote Address for Southeastern Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 3-3-00

“Explanatory Pluralism and The Heuristic Identity Theory: Reconsidering Psycho-physical Identities Against the Background of Research Strategies in Cognitive Neuroscience,” Conference on Explanatory Pluralism in Science, Free University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 12-8-99

“The Principal Aim of a Liberal Education or Liberal Education as Advanced Driver’s Ed for the Mind,” Blount Undergraduate Initiative, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 8-25-99

“Heuristic Identity Theory (or Back to the Future): The Mind-Body Problem Against the Background of Research Strategies in Cognitive Neuroscience” (with William Bechtel)

Cognitive Science Society, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia,
8-21-99 (presented by William Bechtel)
Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California,
6-21-99 (presented by William Bechtel)

“The Evolution of Ritual Arrangements: Two Basins of Attraction”

Philosophy—Neuroscience—Psychology Program, Washington University,
St. Louis, MO, 9-17-99
Conference on Religion, Cognition, and Cultural Context, University of Turku,
Turku, Finland, 6-21-99

“Ritual and Memory: Assessing Two Hypotheses”

University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany, 7-2-98
University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, 6-30-98
Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 6-29-98
Conference on Cognition and Religious Experience, University of Vermont,
Burlington, VT, 6-6-98

“The Naturalness of Religion and the Unnaturalness of Science”

Philosophy—Neuroscience—Psychology Program, Washington University,
St. Louis, MO, 9-16-99
Conference on Cognitive and Biological Perspectives on Cultural Transmission,
Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 9-18-98
Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Minneapolis, MN, 6-13-98
Conference on Cognitive Science and Religious Experience, University of
Vermont, Burlington, VT, 6-4-98
Deutsche Vereinigung für Religionsgeschichte, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität,
Mainz, Germany, 10-7-97

“Mythological Ease and Scientific Difficulty” (with E. Thomas Lawson), Conference on Philosophy and Myth, Wesleyan College, Macon, GA, 4-17-98

“Explanatory Levels in Science and Conceptions of Cognition”

Conference on Body, Mind, and Brain, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon,
10-3-97
Cognitive Studies Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1-31-97

“Co-evolution and Explanatory Pluralism,” Department of Philosophy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1-30-97

“Ritual and Memory: Forms, Frequencies, and Flashbulbs”

Festschrift Conference for Ulric Neisser, Atlanta, GA, 11-16-96
Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Nashville, TN, 11-8-96

“On the Relations of Psychology and Cultural Anthropology in the Twentieth Century”

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, San Diego, CA, 11-8-97
Conference on Cognition, Culture, and Religion, Kalamazooo, MI, 2-15-96

“Religious Ritual and Memory Dynamics”

Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, 10-18-95
XVII International Congress of the International Association of the History of
Religions, Mexico City, Mexico, 8-7-95
Cognitive Science Program, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, 1-23-95
Mellon Symposium, Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA,
11-12-94

“Who Owns ‘Culture’?” Mellon Symposium, Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 11-11-94

“Explanatory Pluralism and the Co-evolution of Theories in Science: Psychology, Neuroscience, and Connectionism”

University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, 3-28-96
Department of Philosophy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 6-16-95
Department of Moral Philosophy, St. Andrews University, St. Andrews, Scotland,
3-1-95
National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, 9-10-93

“Consciousness, Perceptual Psychology, and the Science of the Mind,” Wake Forest University Consciousness Conference, Winston Salem, NC, 5-8-93

“Religious Ritual, Repetition, and Memory”

Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 1-21-94
Kings College, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, 12-8-93
American Academy of Religion (Midwest Division), Kalamazoo, MI, 4-3-93

“Why the Blind Can’t Lead the Blind: Dennett on the Blind Spot, Blindsight, and Sensory Qualia”

National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, 9-10-93
Society for Philosophy and Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec,
6-9-92
Georgia Philosophical Society, Athens, GA, 2-22-92

“Cross-Scientific Relations: Toward an Integrated Approach to the Study of the Emotions,” Mellon Colloquium on the Emotions: Culture, Psychology, Biology, Pine Mountain, GA, 2-26-93

“Crisis of Conscience, Riddle of Identity: Making Space for a Cognitive Approach to Religious Phenomena,” Midwest Division of the American Academy of Religion, Dayton, OH, 4-6-91

“Philosophical and Psychological Implications of Recent Research on Concepts and Categories,” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta, GA, 3-30-91

“Cross-Scientific Relations, Co-evolution, and Cognitive Modeling”

Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 5-22-91
Department of Philosophy, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 1-31-91
Cognitive Science Colloquium, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 11-19-90
Department of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1-31-90

“Models of Knowing and Their Implications for Liberal Education”

Honors College Faculty, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 5-16-90
Association for General and Liberal Studies, Indianapolis, IN, 10-20-89

Symposium on Rethinking Religion: Connecting Cognition and Culture, North American Association for the Study of Religion, Chicago, IL, 11-19-88

“The Displacement of Theories in Science: Prospects for Psychology,” Department of Psychiatry, Portsmouth Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, VA, 11-23-87

“Epistemology in an Age of Science”

Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Miami, FL, 3-31-88
Department of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 10-22-87

“A Cognitive Approach to Cultural Materials,” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta, GA, 4-17-87

“Connecting the Cognitive and the Cultural”

Sloan Cognitive Science Colloquium, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA,
3-30-90
Conference on Minds: Natural and Artificial, University of Georgia, Athens, GA,
3-19-87

“Truth, Epistemic Ideals and the Psychology of Categorization,” Philosophy of Science Association, Pittsburgh, PA, 10-24-86

“The Psychology of Categorization and Our Understanding of Truth”

Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD,
6-5-86
American Philosophical Association, St. Louis, MO, 5-2-86

“The Role of Cognitive Explanations in Psychology,” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Knoxville, TN, 3-27-86

“Realism, Perception, and the Psychology of Categorization,” Georgia Philosophical Society, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 5-11-85

“Theories of Concepts and the Concept of Theories,” Conference on the Ecological and Intellectual Bases of Categorization, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 10-13-84

“Heuristics and the Competence Approach to Theorizing in Linguistics,” Conference on Heuristics and Mathematics and Science Education, University of Houston-Clear Lake, Clear Lake, TX, 7-13-84

“Eliminative Materialism and Types of Intertheoretic Relations”

Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, New Orleans, LA, 4-4-85
Georgia Philosophical Society, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 5-19-84

“The Not So Happy Story of the Marriage of Linguistics and Psychology: Why Linguistics Has Discouraged Psychology’s Recent Advances,” N.E.H. Conference on Integrating Scientific Disciplines, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 5-4-84

“Competence, Consilience, and Psychological Reality,” Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 4-25-83

“Models of the University,” Convocation Series, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, 9-17-82

“The Moral Status of Apartheid”

Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, 10-4-85
Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Columbia, SC, 4-20-84
Indiana University Chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, Indiana
University, Bloomington, IN, 4-6-82

“Competence, Heuristics, and Scientific Discovery”

Department of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2-10-83
Department of Philosophy, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 2-8-83
Department of Philosophy, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 1-21-83
Department of Philosophy, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, 9-23-82
Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN,
9-15-82

“The Psychology of Religious Ritual,” Department of Philosophy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 11-6-81

“Ontological Biases”

Department of Philosophy, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis,
Indianapolis, IN, 10-29-81
Department of Philosophy, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, 2-13-81
Department of Philosophy, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, 4-10-80

“Microreduction and Ontological Economizing,” Indiana Philosophical Association, Franklin College, Franklin, IN, 11-3-79