Course Syllabus

Neuroscience of Religion and Atheism

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Semester & Location:

Spring 2018 - DIS Copenhagen

Type & Credits:

Elective Course - 3 credits

Major Disciplines:

Neuroscience, Psychology, Religious Studies​

Faculty Members:

Maria Serban, Ph.D.

Program Director:

Carla Caetano, Ph.D.

Email: cca@dis.dk

Program Assistant:

Alexandra Fischbach

Email: alfi@dis.dk 

Time & Place:

Tuesday & Friday, 14.50 - 16.10

Classroom: F24-206

Description of Course

The course offers a biological and neurocognitive approach to explore and debate what neuroscience, psychology and related fields reveal about the brain’s role in spiritual experiences, religiosity and atheism. You will learn how the "religious brain" is studied and how other psychological and biological studies inform cognitive scientific views of religion. We will also discuss the public and social impact of the scientific study of religion.

Topics include exploring evolutionary perspectives on religion and the brain, examining religious experiences in pathological and drug-induced states, debating what the brains of religious persons and atheists reveal, and discussing what is ‘normal‘ in religious experience. The course takes different cultural and individual perspectives into consideration and questions the feasibility of this line of questioning and of the methods used.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course you will gain insight into the complexity of researching religion, spirituality, and atheism from a neuroscientific perspective. You will be informed about some of the most relevant debates and research directions currently being pursued in connection to the “religious” brain.

We will explore evolutionary arguments for and against religion, discuss studies that explore religion and spirituality in the brain and the “where”, “how” and “what” of neurotheology. You will also gain some understanding into atheism – for example, why are some people atheist and what factors influence whether someone might become spiritual or not? You will also have the opportunity to think of several exciting research questions, to explore them in some depth and to come up with your own experimental paradigms.

Faculty

Maria Serban, PhD in Philosophy (University of East Anglia UK 2014) and MA in Philosophy and Cognitive Science (Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, France 2010). Postdoctoral research at the Center for Philosophy of Science Pittsburgh (2014), at the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, LSE London (2015), and at the University of Copenhagen (2016-2018). Research focuses on explanation in cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology, computational modelling in systems biology and neuroscience and the ethical implications of translational medicine.

Email: mariaserban.org@gmail.com

Readings

Required and recommended readings include a selection of peer-reviewed articles. The complete list of readings can be found on Canvas. See syllabus and individual class dates for references. 

  1. Beauregard, M. & Paquette, V. 2006. "Neural correlates of mystical experiences in Carmelite nuns". Neuroscience Letters, 405, pgs 186-190.

  2. Carhart-Harris, R. and Goodwin, G.M. 2017. “The Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelic Drugs: Past, Present and Future.” Neuropsychopharmacology

  3. Cristofori et al. 2015. "Neural correlates of mystical experience". Neuropsychologia. 80: 212- 220.

  4. Downes, Stephen M., 2014. “Evolutionary Psychology”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/evolutionary-psychology/>.

  5. Esch, T. 2013. "The neurobiology of meditation and mindfulness". Meditation: Neuroscientific Approaches and Philosophical Implications. 153-173. Springer.

  6. Gould, S. J. "Nonoverlapping Magisteria" <http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html/>

  7. Griffiths, R. R. et al. 2008. “Mystical-type experiences occasioned by psilocybin mediate the attribution of personal meaning and spiritual significance 14 months later”. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 22(6), 621-632.

  8. Lane, J.D. et al. 2015. “Approaching an understanding of omniscience from the preschool years to early adulthood”. Developmental Psychology DOI: 10.1037/a0037715

  9. Norenzayan, A. & Gervais, W.M. 2013. “The origins of religious disbelief”. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 17(1), 20-25.

  10. Oviedo, L. 2008. “Steps toward a cognitive science of religion”. Zygon 43(2): 385-393.

  11. Schjoedt, U. et al. 2009. “Highly religious participants recruit areas of social cognition in personal prayer". Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 4(2), 199-207.

  12. Schjoedt, Uffe 2009. “The religious brain: A general introduction to the experimental neuroscience of religion”. Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 21: 310–339.

  13. Semrud-Clikeman, M. et al. 2009. “Child Neuropsychology. Assessment and Interventions for Neurodevelopmental Disorders”. Functional Neuroanatomy. Chapter 2.  (focus on pages 35 – 44). Springer US.

  14. Singer, P. & M. Hauser 2016. “Godless morality”. In Ethics in the Real World. Princeton University Press.  

  15. Slaughter, V. 2015. “Theory of Mind In Infants and Young Children”. Australian Psychologist 50: 169-172.

  16. Sosis. R. 2009. “The adaptationist-byproduct debate on the evolution of religion: Five misunderstandings of the adaptationist program”. Journal of Culture and Cognition 9: 315-322.

  17. Zuckerman, P. 2009. “Why are Danes and Swedes so irreligious?” Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 22(I) : 55-69.

Field Studies

  1. The National Gallery of Denmark

    Topic: Sacred art in a secular context

  2. DIS Copenhagen 

Topic: Wikipedia entry on The Neuroscience of Religion

Guest Lecturers

  1. Odai Al Zoubi, PhD  
    • Topic: Islam and the bounds of critical rationalism
  2. Andrei Nasta, PhD 
    • Topic: Mysticism through a historical lens

Approach to Teaching

The most important component of this course is student participation and discussion. The students will guide the learning directions that this course takes while the facilitator will moderate and provoke thought and discussion. There will be numerous in-class exercises designed to engage students in their own learning experience. Lecture format will be used in order to highlight very important concepts related to the readings and to give extra guidance for discussion and assignment purposes.

Expectations of the Students

This course emphasises collaborative learning. This involves in-class group activities and frequent discussion among peers punctuated by mini-lectures for context and direction. The goal of learning collaboratively is to develop skills for how to extend the knowledge acquired during class. You should come to class with (electronic or hardcopy) access to the assigned reading and you should expect to use and refer to the reading during class time. All students are expected to contribute their thoughts every day. Participation in class discussions is integral to a rich learning experience and an enjoyable class. You will be graded on the quality of your participation and the depth of your comments and insight as well as the thoughtfulness of your questions. If differences of opinion arise then students are expected to debate openly, but respectfully. Equal contributions of all group members to any group work is expected.

 

Grading

Assignment

Percent

Participation and Attendance

10%

 Classroom activities

10%

 Journal entries

 15%

Neuroscientific methods: poster session

15%

Field study assignment (choice between two topics)

10%

Debate class 

 20%

Final exam

20%

Evaluation

Participation & Attendance

The heart of this class is driven by student participation. The primary character of the class will be exploration of ideas, idea generation, inquiry and discussion. Students must bring to class an inquisitive mind, a willingness to share their thoughts, ideas and questions. Grades will be deducted when readings have not been completed and when participatory efforts are lacking. Please see participation rubric on canvas for specifics. Unexcused and frequent absenteeism will result in a loss of grade. Using laptops and cellphones in class for anything but class work will also result in loss of grade.

Journal Entries 

In order to ensure that readings have been done, to stimulate discussion and to clarify open questions, students are expected to respond to directed questions related to the readings for 8 classes during the semester. Journal entries are submitted on canvas and are to be around 300-500 words. The answer format should be short arguments. Students should make clear how their position relates to the readings and what reasons support the point(s) they are defending. Students are advised to choose one of the questions that can be found in the syllabus below or on canvas. The “first day” journal entry is 1% of the final grade, and all other journal entries are worth 2%. Effort, insight, reflection and referring to the reading itself will be taken into consideration for the grade.

Classroom learning activities

  • Puzzle: each group explains or illustrates a different idea and then the results are discussed and compared in the wider group
  • Group Grid: each group extracts ideas from different parts of the lecture and then class shares findings to complete grid
  • Think-Pair-Share: individuals work in small groups of specific tasks and then they communicate results, difficulties or questions to the class to improve their answers
  • Conceptual maps: students work in small groups to design creative conceptual maps that illustrate their understanding of the ideas presented in class or introduced in the assigned readings, incorporating also their own questions about the links between the notions introduced, the conclusions of the arguments, etc. The maps will be discussed with the rest of the class.

Methods Class

For this class we will simulate a poster session at a conference. The conference is on methods used in the study of neuroscience of religion and atheism. Small groups will present to their peers on their assigned empirical method and its uses. We encourage the presenters to rely also on the material (papers and course material) presented during the class. Preparation will include group work outside of class to develop the poster as well as guidance from the lecturer. During the poster session, the other "research teams" will pose questions about the merits and methodological problems of their method and how it can be used to study the chosen topic best. Both the presentation and the questioning skills will be taken into consideration for the assessment of this task. Please refer to the assignment description and grading rubric for further information (on canvas).

Field Study Assignments

The students can choose to do only one of the following essay assignments (both are due on the same date)

  1. Museum essay 

    Art is created, at least in part, to trigger a response in the perceiver. This subjective response is often a complex emotional one. Religion has been an inspiration for many artists throughout time and into the present day. Works of art have also been used as instruments of spiritual attunement; however secular experiences of sacred art involve different modes of appreciation from the spiritual: technical, historical, and aesthetic. At the National Museum, we ask you to reflect on: 1) How aesthetic experiences evoked by art might influence and shape religious beliefs and emotions? 2) Are the emotions triggered by paintings of sacred art different from the emotions triggered by other paintings?, 3) How can one, in the absence of faith, find sacred art relevant or gripping? 4) Does the context in which sacred art is displayed (museums, galleries) disrupt their function as tools for meditation? and 5) What do these considerations imply for the study of the neurobiological study of religious emotions? For your paper, chose two paintings (one painting with a religious or spiritual theme, the other without) you have viewed in the National Museum (be sure to take a photograph of each and reference it in your paper). Using one of the suggested questions, write a 2-4 page paper about how visual representations influence the transmission of religious ideas and beliefs within a religious and a secular context. You are encouraged to use 1-3 peer-reviewed references to back up your views. For more details see the Assignment page on Canvas under the relevant heading. 

     

  2. Wikipedia entry on The Neuroscience of Religion

Although in its early days, the cognitive neuroscientific study of religion has produced several interesting  working hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying religious cognition, behaviour and experience. We will be reviewing some of these throughout the semester. The aim of this field study is to curate a wikipedia entry that would summarise some of the most recent findings about the neural underpinnings of religion. If you choose to participate in this project, you will be able to rely on your journal entries to prepare short descriptions of the neuroscientific studies. The lecturer will guide you throughout the semester - giving advice on the type of information you will have to focus on, the way in which this information should be presented, and integrated. The students who decide to work on this project for their field study assignment will take part in a final collective editing session in which the final draft of the entry will be prepared for submission. Continuous engagement in the project as well as initiative about which other topics/research articles to include will be evaluated alongside the quality of the individual contributions. They will also have the chance to distribute the work  for this assignment throughout the semester by contributing to a web page that collects their ideas (in the format of short summaries of research articles).

Debate Class

The lecturer will present the rules of a debate session and will provide a list of topics that the debate teams can choose from. There will also be a “practice” debate during which students will be given feedback both on their arguments and debate style but also on procedural rules. This session will be organised before the session that will be graded. (For more information see “Assignments” on Canvas.)

Final Exam

The final exam will be based on the readings and class discussion. It will be a combination of short and long answer questions. There will be a study guide and more information as the semester progresses.

 

Policies

Attendance

You are expected to attend all classes, guest lectures, workshops and field studies. If you must miss a class for religious holidays, medical reasons, or other valid reasons, you must let us know as far in advance as possible of the absence and obtain information about the work you must do to keep up in class. If you miss a class for any other reason (sudden illness, family emergency, etc.), you should get in touch with us as soon as possible and arrange to make up the work missed.

It is crucial for your learning that you stay on task and hand in assignments on or before the due date. All work– including in-class projects – have to be completed in order to pass the class. Late papers or projects will be marked down with 1/3 of a grade for each day it is late.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism and Violating the Rules of an Assignment: DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic work. DIS assumes that all students do their own work and credit all work or thought taken from others.   Academic dishonesty will result in a final course grade of “F” and can result in dismissal. The students’ home universities will be notified. DIS reserves the right to request that written student assignments be turned in electronic form for submission to plagiarism detection software.  See the Academic Handbook for more information, or ask your instructor if you have questions.

Policy on Late Papers: Late journal entries will be accepted if they are submitted before start of class or if a good excuse is communicated before class.

Policy for Students Who Arrive Late to Class: Life happens and we are all late now and then. If a student is consistently late or disruptive when arriving to class then this will affect their participation grade.

Use of Laptops or Phones in Class: Computers and iPhones are allowed in class only for note taking purposes and for group exercises, as instructed by the lecturer. In case of other uses such as Facebook, emails or internet surfing, it will have a negative impact on your participation grade. Cell phones are to be shut off during class and texting/SMS'ing etc. during class will have a negative impact on your participation grade.

 

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:

Course Summary:

Date Details Due