Program Schedule

Wednesday 9, May
Arrival in Erice

Thursday 10th, May
  • 09:00-09:30 - Opening Ceremony (S. Parmigiani director of the School)
  • 09:30-09:45 - Introduction by Conference Organizers (Henrich/Norenzayan/Slingerland)
What Is Religion (Chair: Jeppe Jensen)
  • 09:45-10:30 - Robert McCauley : The Attractions of Religions: Religious Gadgets and Mental Disorders
  • 10:30-11:15 - Ann Taves : The evolution of what? Shifting the focus from religions to worldviews and ways of life
  • 11:15-12:00 - Pascal Boyer : What kinds of religious activity occurred in ancestral environments?
  • 12:00-15:00 - Lunch break
Historical and Archival Approaches (Chair: Danijela Jerotijevic)
  • 15:00-15:45 - Russell Gray : The cultural evolution of religion: testing time
  • 15:45-16:30 - Edward Slingerland : Durkheim with Data: The Database of Religious History
  • 16:30-17:15 - Jeanet Sinding Bentzen : Acts of God? Religiosity and Natural Disasters Across Subnational World Districts
  • 17:15-17:30 - coffee break
Short Talk Session 1 - (Chair: Eva Klocová)
  • 17:30-18:15 - Jocelyn Dautel, Jon Lanman, Jonathan Morgan
  • 18:15-19:00 - Discussant-led conversation (Amanda Friesen)
  • 19:00-20:00 - Break/Drinks
  • 20:00 - Dinner

Friday 11th, May
Religion, Cooperation and Conflict (Chair: Silvie Kotherova)
  • 09:00-09:45 - Scott Atran : The Spiritual Dimension of Human Conflict
  • 09:45-10:00 - Dominic Johnson : Gods of War: Religion as an adaptation for inter-group conflict
  • 10:00-10:45 - Richard Sosis : Simulating Religions as Complex Adaptive Systems
  • 10:45-11:00 - Coffee break
  • 11:30-11:45 - Joseph Henrich : The Cultural Evolution of Prosocial Religions
  • 12:30-14:30 - Poster session (with Buffet lunch at the conference hall)
Ritual I (Chair: Dario Maestripieri)
  • 15:00-15:45 - Hillary Lenfesty : The role of ecstatic rituals in the evolution of religion
  • 15:45-16:30 - Dimitris Xygalatas : The puzzle of extreme rituals: What we are learning and what we still need to know.
  • 16:30-17:15 - Aiyana Willard : Do as I Do, Not as I Say: content and context biases in transmission of religious beliefs
Short Talks Session 2
  • 17:30-18:15 - John Shaver, Melanie Nyhof, Michiel van Elk
  • 18:15-19:00 - Discussant-led conversation (TBA)
  • 19:00-20:00 - Break/Drinks
  • 20:00 - Dinner

Saturday 12th, May
Religion and Psychological Transformation (chair TBA)
  • 09:00-09:45 - Colleen Shantz : Imagine There's a Heaven: The Role of Imagination in Niche Construction
  • 09:45-10:00 - Jesper Sørensen : Stable feed-back loops: religious belief and practice in cultural immunology
  • 10:00-10:45 - Joseph Bulbulia : Religion and the evolution of second-nature
  • 10:45-11:00 - Coffee break
  • 11:30-11:45 - David Sloan Wilson : Is a Fully Naturalistic Religion Possible?
  • 15:00 - Lunch break
Ritual II (Chair Stefano Parmigiani)
  • 15:00-15:45 - Cristine Legare : The evolution and ontogeny of ritual
  • 15:45-16:30 - Harvey Whitehouse : The role of ritual in the evolution of social complexity
  • 16:30-17:15 - Eleanor Power : Faith in the Faithful: Religious Practice, Reputation, and Social Support Networks in Rural South India
  • 17:15-17:30 - coffee break
  • 17:30-19:00 - Closing Discussion
  • 17:45-18:00 - Comments by invited Discussant (Paul Bloom)
  • 17:30-17:45 - Comments by organizers
  • 18:00-19:00 - Open discussion
  • 19:00-20:00 - Break/Drinks
  • 20:00 - Final Dinner

Sunday 13th, May
Free Day - Excursion to Selinunte and Segesta (see information on the website at the registration page)

Monday 14th, May
Departures