Videos


Spectrums Project: Can liberals and conservatives do church together?

12/20/2012

In the fall semester of 2012, the Boston University School of Theology held a lecture on the Spectrums Project, an initiative for investigating the liberal-conservative distinction in religion. Some of today’s most exciting findings on ideology, religion, and belief are in the video of that night’s lecture, including short talks by Wesley Wildman, Stephen Chapin Garner, Aimee Radom, and Connor Wood. Video courtesy of BUniverse, Boston University’s public forum for videos and lectures.


Interview: Connor Wood on empathy and biology

02/04/2012

Connor Wood, a Ph.D. student at Boston University and scholar at the Institute for the Biocultural Study of Religion, researches the effects of religious practice and behavior on the body, specifically focusing on religion, spirituality, and health. Connor was interviewed recently by Edwin Rutsch of the Center for Building a Culture of Empathy on the subjects of empathy, biology, and religion – a conversation inspired by an article that appeared on ScienceOnReligion.org about recent research on rats and empathy.


The Neuroscience of Religious Experience: An Interview with Patrick McNamara

01/05/2011

The Neuroscience of Religious Experience: An Interview with Patrick McNamara Part 1
The Neuroscience of Religious Experience: An Interview with Patrick McNamara Part 2

Dr. Patrick McNamara, Director of the Evolutionary Neurobehavior Laboratory in the Department of Neurology (BU School of Medicine), has published numerous books and articles on the neuroscience of religion and the evolution of religious behaviors. His work attempts to chart a middle course between scientific reductionism and the humanities’ approaches to the study of religion. In the summer of 2009, Randall Stephens (Eastern Nazarene College) interviewed Dr. McNamara on his research, asking questions about how the neuroscientific study of religion has developed over time and where it might go in the future.


Make It Start, Make It Stop!: The Future of Religious Experience, by Wesley J. Wildman

04/14/2008

Wesley J. Wildman, a School of Theology associate professor of theology and ethics, discusses the promise that technology and science hold for the future of human religion and spirituality in the sixth lecture in the six-part series Religious Experiences: From the Mundane to the Anomalous at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute. Hosted by Center for the Study of Religion and Psychology at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute.


Peeking Behind the Ideological Curtain: The Social Dynamics of Religious Experience, by Wesley J. Wildman

03/17/2008

Wesley J. Wildman, a School of Theology associate professor of theology and ethics, explores how social and evolutionary needs shape our religious beliefs and behaviors in the fifth lecture in the six-part series Religious Experiences: From the Mundane to the Anomalous at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute. Hosted by Center for the Study of Religion and Psychology at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute.


Can You Trust Your Instincts? The Cognitive Reliability of Religious Experience, by Wesley J. Wildman

02/25/2008

Wesley J. Wildman, a School of Theology associate professor of theology and ethics, explores the value of the spiritual experiences that often shape religious beliefs – and how philosophers determine which experiences are reliable – in the fourth lecture in the six-part series Religious Experiences: From the Mundane to the Anomalous at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute. Hosted by Center for the Study of Religion and Psychology at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute.


A Smorgasbord of Dangers and Delights: The Phenomenology of Religious Experience, by Wesley J. Wildman

12/10/2007

In the third of his six lectures on Religious Experiences: From the Mundane to the Anomalous, Wesley J. Wildman, School of Theology associate professor of philosophy, theology, and ethics, describes several kinds of religious and spiritual experiences – and explains what they tell us about psychology, theology, and evolutionary theory. Hosted by Center for the Study of Religion and Psychology at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute.


Spirituality and the Brain: A Scientific Approach to Religious Experience, by Wesley J. Wildman

10/01/2007

Wesley J. Wildman, a School of Theology associate professor of theology and ethics, takes a scientific approach to the discussion of religious and spiritual experiences in the second lecture in the six-part series Religious Experiences: From the Mundane to the Anomalous. He explains current techniques for neurological studies of religious and spiritual experiences and debates their impact on our philosophical and scientific understanding of the supernatural. Hosted by Center for the Study of Religion and Psychology at Boston University’s Danielsen Institute.