LEVYNA conducted field research in Mauritius
Eva Kundtová Klocová has a chapter (in collaboration with Armin W. Geertz) on "Ritual and Embodied Cognition" in a brand new The Oxford Handbook on Early Christian Ritual (OUP).
In their chapter, Eva and Armin explore the "4E approach" to cognition that understands the cognitive system as embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive. The chapter focuses on interactions between bodily actions, human thinking, and the cultural embeddedness of human cognition and its implications for the study of rituals. The authors also provide a sketch of systematic approach to the study of religious rituals based on those theoretical stances and empirical evidence.
In a new study published in Human Nature, LEVYNA was part of a team lead by A.K. Willard, studying how witchcraft beliefs affect social norms and behaviors. Specifically, researchers investigated whether witchcraft is regarded to be motivated by envy and how this notion influences community interactions. The findings show that, while witchcraft accusations were common, they were mostly directed at persons suspected of acting out of envy.