Ernest Thomas (Tom) Lawson (born 27 November 1931, in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

) is an honorary professor at the Institute of Cognition and Culture at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. He is the executive editor of the '' Journal of Cognition and Culture'' (JCC) and co-founder (with Luther Martin and Donald Wiebe) of the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR). He is a founding member and has served as the first President of the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion ( IACSR). Lawson is widely considered to be the founder of the

cognitive science of religion Cognitive science of religion is the study of religious thought and behavior from the perspective of the cognitive and evolutionary sciences. Scholars in this field seek to explain how human minds acquire, generate, and transmit religious thoughts ...

field. He has published the books ''Religions of Africa: Traditions in Transformation'' (1984) and, with Robert N. McCauley, ''Rethinking Religion: Connecting Cognition and Culture'' (1990) and ''Bringing Ritual to Mind: Psychological Foundations of Ritual Forms'' (2002).McCauley, N. Robert and Thomas E. Lawson, 2002. Bringing Ritual to Mind; Psychological Foundations of Cultural Forms, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. He also played a leading role in the establishment of departments of religion at public universities in the United States during the 1960s. A

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

in his honor, ''Religion as a Human Capacity: A Festschrift in Honor of E. Thomas Lawson'', was published in 2004. He is Emeritus Professor of Comparative Religion at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. Currently, Lawson is a "Senior Researcher and Distinguished Professor in Residence" at LEVYNA (Laboratory for Experimental Research of Religion) at

Masaryk University Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the seco ...

in Brno, Czech Republic. In addition to his research activities Lawson is an avid painter, traveler, science fiction reader, and bird watcher.

References

External links

Institute of Cognition and CultureInternational Association for the Cognitive Science of ReligionLEVYNA (Laboratory for Experimental Research of Religion)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, E Thomas 1931 births Living people British cognitive scientists Academics of Queen's University Belfast Western Michigan University faculty Religion academics Cognitive science of religion Masaryk University faculty