Psychology of Religion

(2.5-3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This 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.