Dimitris Xygalatas
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology,
and Cognitive Science Program, University of Connecticut
President, International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion
Lab: Experimental Anthropology Lab
Other Affiliations
Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University
CT Institute for Brain and Cognitive Science
Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy
About me
I am an anthropologist and cognitive scientist working at the University of Connecticut, where I direct the Experimental Anthropology Lab. I was born in Greece, but have lived in 7 countries. I received my PhD in Anthropology from the Institute of Cognition and Culture at Queen’s University Belfast. I have since held positions at the universities of Princeton, Aarhus, and Masaryk, where I served as Director of the Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion (LEVYNA), before coming to UConn in 2014.
My background and research are radically interdisciplinary. I received my training in Anthropology and Cognitive Science, and have since worked in a variety of cross-disciplinary institutions. For my research, I combine scientific methods and technologies with ethnographic fieldwork.
My research Interests include ritual behavior, cooperation, and social bonding. I have conducted several years of fieldwork in Southern Europe and Mauritius, studying the psychological and social effects of extreme rituals and developing a methodology for studying such rituals experimentally in their natural context.
Before becoming a full-time academic, I have worked as a photographer, book editor, and translator (and of course a waiter). I have translated academic books on various topics related to Cognitive Science, the Humanities and Social Sciences, and evolutionary theory (see my translations).
I am also an amateur photographer, football fan (real football, not American football), and compulsive traveller.
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology,
and Cognitive Science Program, University of Connecticut
President, International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion
Lab: Experimental Anthropology Lab
Other Affiliations
Interacting Minds Centre, Aarhus University
CT Institute for Brain and Cognitive Science
Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy
About me
I am an anthropologist and cognitive scientist working at the University of Connecticut, where I direct the Experimental Anthropology Lab. I was born in Greece, but have lived in 7 countries. I received my PhD in Anthropology from the Institute of Cognition and Culture at Queen’s University Belfast. I have since held positions at the universities of Princeton, Aarhus, and Masaryk, where I served as Director of the Laboratory for the Experimental Research of Religion (LEVYNA), before coming to UConn in 2014.
My background and research are radically interdisciplinary. I received my training in Anthropology and Cognitive Science, and have since worked in a variety of cross-disciplinary institutions. For my research, I combine scientific methods and technologies with ethnographic fieldwork.
My research Interests include ritual behavior, cooperation, and social bonding. I have conducted several years of fieldwork in Southern Europe and Mauritius, studying the psychological and social effects of extreme rituals and developing a methodology for studying such rituals experimentally in their natural context.
Before becoming a full-time academic, I have worked as a photographer, book editor, and translator (and of course a waiter). I have translated academic books on various topics related to Cognitive Science, the Humanities and Social Sciences, and evolutionary theory (see my translations).
I am also an amateur photographer, football fan (real football, not American football), and compulsive traveller.