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The European Commission Project: Explaining Religion

The RCC is also a principal partner in the European Commission project called Explaining Religion (EXREL) which is a three-year interdisciplinary research initiative (2008-2010) that explores both what is universal and cross-culturally variant in religious traditions as well as the cognitive mechanisms undergirding religious thought and behavior. Directed by Harvey Whitehouse at the Centre for Anthropology and Mind, University of Oxford, EXREL is a large-scale project involving major centres for psychological, biological, anthropological and historical research on religion. The RCC, represented by Armin W. Geertz in coordination with Robin Dunbar, helps explore the area of religious recurrence and variation. In that capacity, the RCC has hosted post doc Fellow Quentin Atkinson (Oxford) and senior Fellow Don Braxton (Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA).