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The University of British Columbia

The Science of Religion

The University of British Columbia via edX

Overview

Drawing on new scientific advances, this religion course examines foundational questions about the nature of religious belief and practice.

The course is based on the idea that religion is a naturalistic phenomenon — meaning it can be studied and better understood using the tools of science. Religious belief and practice emerge naturally from the structure of human psychology, and have an important impact on the structure of societies, the way groups relate to each other, and the ability of human beings to cooperate effectively.

Topics to be covered will include traditional and contemporary theories of religion, with a special emphasis on cultural evolutionary models.

The initial production of this MOOC was partially funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada Partnership Grant on ‘The Evolution of Religion and Morality’ (PI: Edward Slingerland), and represents one of this grant’s major knowledge mobilization and research dissemination initiatives. Its maintenance and update has received additional support from a generous donation from the John Templeton Foundation. We also recognize the contribution of The Templeton World Charity (Project title: "The Science of Religion: A Massively Open Online Course”)

Taught by

Edward Slingerland and Azim Shariff

Reviews

5.0 rating, based on 2 Class Central reviews

Start your review of The Science of Religion

  • I’ve just started watching the course and I am very impressed by all of the people involved--the main teachers as well as all the others who join in. That is, I think, one of the strengths of the course: we’re getting many different perspectives whi…
  • Anonymous
    Well done in about every respect. Great lectures. Engaged professors and assistant. Production of videos entertaining and enlightening. Can't think of anything to improve upon.

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