REA: APPRRE Annual Meeting

Brain Matters: Neuroscience, Creativity, and Diversity

November 4-6, 2011

Hilton Toronto Airport Hotel & Suites

Toronto, ON

From President-Elect and Program Chair Dean Blevins:

Ten years after the original “Decade of the Brain,” new insights in biology, neuroscience, and brain studies continue to inform and at times confound our understandings of cognition, creativity, and educational practice. Within this growing body of social and scientific discovery, theologians, philosophers, and neuroscientists, along with educators, counselors, and religious practitioners face a myriad of questions around the relationship between religious experience and cognitive neuroscience. This annual meeting will provide an opportunity for diverse engagement in exploring this relationship both in formal education strategies and in formational practice. The association welcomes proposals for research papers, colloquia, and workshops that address such questions as:

How will insights in neuroscience shape our future understanding of God, personhood, religious experience, belief formation, pluralism, and interreligious dialogue?
How does neuroscience influence educational practice, fostering both creativity and stable environments for learning in higher education and community formation?
How might neuroscience shape basic models of pedagogy and spiritual formation in the shaping of religious and moral character?
How do we identify and overcome early “neuro-myths” perpetuated by incomplete or inaccurate views of brain based learning? What models can we trust?
What are the implications of diverse yet scientifically based modes of cognition including studies in temperament and multiple intelligences?
How might neuroscience influence the religious expressions of different traditions, age groups, cultures, ethnicities, genders, socio-economic groups, nationalities, and sexual orientations, creating a broader place for public discourse between science and religion and overcoming the impasse between then within some religious traditions?

Questions and comments about the theme and offers to assist in the design of the meeting may be directed to President-Elect, Dean G.Blevins, PhD. Email: dgblevins@nts.edu

CALL FOR PAPERS AVAILABLE SOON. DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSION: 2 MAY 2011

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Barbara Bradley Hagerty guest speaker at 2011 Annual Meeting

Barbara Bradley Hagerty
NPR Correspondent Barbara Bradley Hagerty will speak at the 2011 REA Conference. Hagerty is author of the New York Times best seller, Fingerprints of God: In Search of the Science of Spirituality. Hagerty writes of her book:
This book has been percolating in my subconscious for years, and finally burst to the surface demanding to be written. I was driven by the questions– questions that had puzzled me for years– and I hope they will pique your interest as well.
Questions like: Why are some people more spiritual than others? Is there a God gene? Is there a God spot in the brain, a place where God communicates with us? Are we hard-wired to connect with God? Can we train ourselves to access another, spiritual realm? Is there life after death? And for that matter, is there any evidence for God at all?

Portions of Hagerty’s search can be found on NPR including a special site that asks ”Is This Your Brain on God?”

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Resources for Brain Matters

In recent years we have seen an explosion of resources (print and electronic) in the fields of Neuroscience in relation to both Religion and Education. The following site includes some selections that may help you explore these fields. Some of the material offered is designed to provide a basic introduction (either through selected texts or educationally oriented websites) while other materials may serve to encourage more fruitful exploration into specific sub-disciplines. We encourage your comments on other resources that should be considered. As a growing field we really need a wide array of materials to adequately capture our varied interests so feel free to contact us with additional materials we can offer either here or on our news page.

Barbara Bradley Hagerty guest speaker at 2011 Annual Meeting

Resources for Brain Matters

Introductory Texts

Introductory Websites

Popular Readings (General Public)

Neuroscience General

Neuroscience and Religion (Explorations and Issues)

Neuroscience and Education (Explorations and Issues)