Countdown timer

Remember, it's never too late to register for a class, even after it's begun. You can always catch up with any sessions you may have missed by watching the video recordings of previous sessions. The time remaining to register before the first class session is below, so stop hesitating and get to it!

  • 00 Days
  • 00 Hours
  • 00 Minutes
  • 00 Seconds
Register now!

Offered:

as in-person, Zoom, or video recordings

  • • RD250 is offered in 2024 Term 4 (Oct-Dec) pending sufficient student enrolment.

  • • This course is offered as an in-person course at the EarthDiverse Centre in Hamilton, New Zealand, live-streamed via Zoom if you live elsewhere, and as video recordings of the live sessions if you cannot attend the regularly scheduled class.

Date & Time:

Begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 6:30-8:00pm

  • • Our RD250 course is offered on Mondays from 6:30-8:00pm (New Zealand time) beginning Monday 4 November 2024 and meets for 7 consecutive weekly sessions. The last class of the Term is on Monday 16 December 2024.

  • • If you live outside of New Zealand and wish to Zoom in to our live class sessions, check the nearest local Time Zone equivalent below:

Time Zone equivalents:

for live-streaming Zoom Sessions from New Zealand. If your Time Zone doesn't suit our live-streamed class, you can also access our courses by watching the live-recorded sessions that are posted to the course webpage each week, usually within 1-2 days.

  • Honolulu, Hawai’i: begins Sun 3 Nov 2024, 7:30-9:00pm

  • US Pacific: begins Sun 3 Nov 2024, 9:30-11:00pm

  • US Eastern: begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 12:30-2:00am

  • London, UK: begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 5:30-7:00am

  • Paris, France: begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 6:30-8:00am

  • New Delhi, India: begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 11:00am-12:30pm

  • Bangkok, Thailand: begins Mon 4 Nov2024, 12:30-2:00pm

  • Singapore & Shanghai: begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 1:30-3:00pm

  • Tokyo, Japan: begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 2:30-4:00pm

  • Sydney, Australia: begins Mon 4 Nov 2024, 4:30-6:00pm

Description:

RD250: Religion in the Mind: A Psychological Exploration of Religious Behaviour

  • • Evolutionary scientists understand religious diversity as a function of our universal human nature shaped by different social and environmental conditions.

  • • This course looks at the many and various psychological studies that seek to explain how our shared processes of human cognition underpin the ubiquity and diversity of religion across the world.

Week 1. The Cognitive Science of Religion

Monday 4 November 2024

This introductory class outlines some of the basic assumptions regarding the scientific approach to religion using cognitive evolutionary models.

Week 2. The Functional Origin of Religious Concepts

Monday 11 November 2024

This class examines how certain concepts of God and god-like characteristics are intuitively appealing to our evolved cognitive architecture, including theories based on ‘theory of mind’ and ‘minimally counterintuitive concepts.’.

Week 3. Religion in Child Development

Monday 18 November 2024

This class examines how the ‘experience expectant’ brains of early adolescents change and undergo a period of high receptivity to religious ideas and experiences at this time.

Week 4. Religious Experience: Trance, Tongues and Ritual Specialists

Monday 25 November 2024

This class examines what happens in the brain during religious experiences, the potential benefits of such altered states, and the various cultural practices humans have developed to trigger such mystical encounters.

Week 5. Religion and Pro-Sociality

Monday 2 December 2024

This class looks at how human cognition latches onto religious signalling to strengthen social trust and belonging within groups, underpinning humans extraordinary capacity to cooperative across large groups.

Week 6. Dealing with Death

Monday 9 December 2024

This class explores studies where evolutionary scientists have sought to unpack how ideas and experiences of death prime religious belief and behaviours fit for coping with grief, death anxiety and changes to the social order.

Week 7. Religion and Mating Strategies

Monday 16 December 2024

This class examines how religious institutions enable men and women to secure a spouse to whom their mutual investments of time and care will not go to waste!

Meet our Instructor

Teaching Fellow Dr Tom White, PhD

Tom White is from the UK, and studies the histories, politics and effects of secularisation and religious change in the Pacific Islands. He was awarded his PhD in 2020 from the University of Otago, with his thesis, The Constitutional Politics of Religion in Fiji, passing with distinction. He is currently a Teaching Fellow in the History Department at The University of Waikato and a Senior Research Fellow with the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Leipzig University. He has held research fellowships at the University of Otago and the University of the South Pacific, and before coming to Aotearoa New Zealand led the School of Social Sciences at the Fiji National University. Tom has undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Politics (MA with honours) from the University of Edinburgh (2006), and in Religion and Society (MA) from Durham University (2011). He cycles an old, rickety road bike around the Ngāruawāhia hills, coaches kiddies’ soccer and drinks too much Good George cider, though not all at the same time. You can find out more about his research at tomwhite-research.com

Location:

This class is a hybrid class with both in-person sessions in our classrooms and streamed live via Zoom.

All in-person classes are held at the EarthDiverse offices and classrooms located at 401 Anglesea Street, Hamilton Central, Hamilton (located just north of the Hamilton Central Bus Station) (entrance is located on the side of the building, see map below). Those looking for parking for our evening classes can park just in front of the building in any of the available car parks. Daytime parking can be found in our dedicated car parks, or free 2-hour on-street daytime parking can be found just in front on Anglesea Street.
Location

Course curriculum:

Week by week new material will be posted throughout the duration of the course. Video recordings of each weekly session will be posted here after 1-2 days after each class.

    1. EarthDiverse Course information

    2. EarthDiverse Zoom Instructions

    1. Week 1. The Cognitive Science of Religion

    1. Week 2. The Functional Origin of Religious concepts

    1. Week 3. Religion in Child Development

    1. Week 4. Religious Experience: Trance, Tongues and Ritual Specialists

    1. Week 5. Religion and pro-sociality

Additional course info:

  • Video and PDF content of class presentations or whiteboard notes are uploaded weekly after each live session
  • Begins Mon 4 Nov 2024
  • NZ time: Mondays 6:30-8:00pm

Pricing options:

• All prices are in New Zealand dollars and include GST.

• Unwaged includes students, seniors, retirees and unemployed.

• Prices remain the same regardless of your chosen method for accessing this course.

Distance Learning:

This course has distance-learning options for those unable to attend the live class sessions in Hamilton, New Zealand. Students have three options for attending our courses once they have registered:

  • Attend in-person classes in our Hamilton classrooms at the regularly scheduled day and time.

  • Attend our live on-line classroom sessions via Zoom at the regular scheduled day and time.

  • Watch the live-recorded class sessions at your leisure, at a time, day and place more suited to your schedule.

Distance-Learning options:

Live Zoom sessions or Video-Recordings

  • • In addition to our in-person classes in Hamilton, our courses offer distance learning options for those unable to attend classes in-person. Live-streamed Hamilton classes are available via free Zoom software for those living outside the Waikato. Live-streaming allows you to participate fully in your own learning, ask questions of the instructor and participate fully in the same way as if you were in the physical classroom.

  • • Those unable to attend the scheduled date and time of the actual class sessions, or those who need to miss a class or two due to previous engagements or unexpected illness, can watch any or all of the live-recorded video sessions on their computers, laptops, tablets or mobile devices and study at their own pace and in their own time.

  • • Detailed instructions on how to access our distance learning components will be sent after completing your registration. There are no additional fees for this service. However, distance learners will need access to a desktop or laptop computer with a good quality web-camera (tablet devices and mobile phones can also access our live-streamed classes), a built-in microphone (most modern laptops have built-in microphones) or a headset with a microphone. You will also need to download and install the free Zoom software on your computer or device. Those accessing the video recordings will be able to do so with a simple web browser on any device.

Notes:

Those who cannot make the class meeting day and time via live Zoom sessions may consider accessing this course through the weekly recorded video sessions. Class videos are usually posted within 1-2 days of each live class session and are available for your own personal learning on a day and time of your choosing.

  • • This class has no assignments, required readings, quizzes, tests or exams.

  • • You will not need to purchase any additional course materials.

  • • All classes encourage questions and group discussion.

  • • PDF copies of each class presentation are posted weekly to the course webpage usually 1-2 days after each class so that you are free to focus on class content rather than taking notes. You are most welcome to come, sit back, relax, take part in and enjoy the discussions!

  • • If you’re attending in-person, course fees include tea/coffee/snack at each session. Help yourself!

  • • There are no refunds for missed classes. If you miss a class, you can watch the video recording!

  • • Please note that if no one shows up for a particular class, either in person or via Zoom, we will make every attempt to postpone the class and make it up at the end of the Term. However, this may not always be possible. Teachers are not required to teach a class if no students show up, but the teacher has the discretion to record a video with no students present if s/he is unable to postpone a class. Please email or text your teachers if you are unable to attend any specific class session.

  • • Guests of registered participants are welcome to attend a single class at no charge.

  • • If, however, this course is cancelled due to insufficient enrollment please note that your registration fee will either be refunded in full or you may select to receive a course credit. Your choice!

  • • Certificates of Completion for any particular Term Course or Series are available for Professional Development purposes upon request at the end of each Term or Series.

Prerequisites:

a keen desire to learn more about contempory issues in the study of religion and psychology.

• There are no prerequisites for this course.

• Open to adults and children aged 16 and above.