Connor Wood

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW, 2016-2018

LINDAMOOD FELLOW, 2010-2015

Connor Wood recently earned his PhD from the Graduate Division of Religious Studies at Boston University. His research interests include religion and health, human ethology, signaling theory, ritual studies, shamanism, evolutionary theory, cultural evolution, cognitive styles, and the public understanding of issues in science and religion. He is currently working on the Modeling Religion Project. Connor can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Joel C. Daniels

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW, 2015-2017
LINDAMOOD FELLOW, 2010-2014
DOCTORAL FELLOW, 2009-2010

Joel Daniels (PhD, Boston University) edits the IBCSR Research Review. He is also Assistant Editor for Religion, Brain & Behavior. Visit his BU webpage here.

Stephanie N. Arel

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW, 2015-2017

Dr. Stephanie N. Arel completed a PhD from Boston University’s School of Theology and is currently training in trauma modalities for clinical treatment at the New York Institute for the Psychotherapies. Her work on IBCSR’s Sex Differences and Religion Project probes questions about the constitution of material and spiritual bodies, as well as how both interdepend on sexual reproduction. She is also interested in the ontogeny of shame and the role of violence in spiritual formation, especially as these relate to sex and gender.

Justin E. Lane

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW, 2015-2018

Dr. Justin Lane completed a doctoral at Oxford University and is working in the Institute's Modeling Religion Project.

Yair Lior

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW, 2015-2017

Dr. Yair Lior completed his doctoral studies at Boston University. His research at IBCSR is in the Comparative Cultural Systems Project, where he focuses on systems and information approaches to comparative religion. He is particularly interested in highlighting parallels between the Chinese and Jewish traditions as a showcase for the instrumentality of new comparative methodologies. His academic training is in Chinese philosophy, religion, and Song dynasty intellectual history, especially Neo-Confucian thought.