Current Staff

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Brian Teed

IBCSR Administrator, 2015-2016

Brian has a Master’s degree from Boston University School of Theology where he focused on existential and philosophical theology. He holds a BA in sociology. Brian ensures that IBCSR and its lab both run smoothly, working closely with Wesley Wildman and Patrick McNamara. He also participates in some of the institute's research projects.

Former Staff

James Haag

James Haag

ASSISTANT EDITOR FOR RELIGION, BRAIN & BEHAVIOR, 2010-2013

James Haag brings a PhD in religion and science, as well as considerable experience, to his work as Assistant Editor on the Taylor & Francis journal Religion, Brain & Behavior. He is Adjunct Lecturer in Philosophy at Suffolk University in Boston, MA. More information about James is available on Academia.edu.

Dan Finkel

Dan Finkel

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR RELIGION, BRAIN & BEHAVIOR, 2010-2012

Dan is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of Connecticut. His dissertation research focuses on the role of music and synchrony in social bonding, using a combination of fieldwork, lab experiments, and quantitative cross-cultural analysis. He has background and training in the neuroscience of social cognition, human behavioral ecology, and religion, and incorporates these perspectives in his research.

Jordan Kiper

Jordan Kiper

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR RELIGION, BRAIN & BEHAVIOR, 2012-2013

Jordan Kiper is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of Connecticut. Besides having graduate certificates in cognitive science, human rights, and quantitative research methods, he also possesses an MA in philosophy and a BA in art history. His research centers on the evolution of religion and morality, and also the effects of various forms of propaganda on human behavior.

April Minsky

April Minsky

Research Assistant, Neuroscience and Religious Cognition Project, 2013-2015

April was the head research assistant for the Neuroscience and Religious Cognition Project, affiliated with IBCSR and the Boston VA. She works closely with Patrick McNamara and Wesley Wildman. April graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Simmons College.

Ian Cooley

Ian Cooley

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR RELIGION, BRAIN & BEHAVIOR, 2013-2014
DOCTORAL FELLOW, 2012-2014

Ian Cooley is a doctoral student in the Division of Religious and Theological Studies at Boston University. His present interests are focused primarily upon the phenomenology of religious experience, particularly as it pertains to our encounter with Otherness, and how such analyses might be applied to an understanding of scientific inquiry. He is also developing an increasingly nagging interest in the role that semantically open forms of language play both in the construction of experiential depth and in establishing a conceptual space for religiously interpretable engagements with existence. He is currently working with Dr. Wesley Wildman on the Quantifying Religious Experience Project (QRXP), and he is the editorial assistant for the Institute's journal, Religion, Brain & Behavior.