- 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
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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
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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
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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