John Templeton Grant: Science and the Big Questions – Human Sciences

  • Key Questions
    • What are religious experiences and what is their significance?
    • How do we conceptualize the divine?
    • How do religious and spiritual practices affect our health?
    • How are religions and religious communities changing globally?
  • Guidelines
    • Projects should aim to catalyse discovery about human nature, human flourishing, religion and spirituality, and other fundamental structures and realities within the social, behavioural, and cognitive sciences.
    • Funding supports basic and applied scientific research projects, especially those that seek to increase enthusiasm for neglected topics within the academy.
  • Sample Projects
    • Do Yourself a Favour: Prudence as Inter-temporal Kindness
      • PIs: Psychology Professors Daniel Gilbert (Harvard) & Timothy Wilson (University of Virginia)
      • Research Questions
        -Why don’t we take obvious and often easy actions in the present to prevent negative consequences in the future?
        -If the future self is another person, then might the laws that govern how we treat other people also govern how we treat our future selves?
    • Cognitive, Cultural, and Motivational Influences on Religious Belief and Disbelief
      • PIs: Assistant Professor of Psychology Will Gervais (University of Kentucky)
      • Research Questions:
        -Why do some people not believe in supernatural beings — when most people do?
        -What predicts who becomes a non-believer?
Print Friendly, PDF & Email