On December 15, the research group on Reason and Faith (CRYF) at the University of Navarra held a seminar entitled, "The Cognitive Science of Religion: History, key debates and future prospects," which Nathaniel F. Barrett organized. The cognitive science of religion emerged in the early 1990s and aims to explain religious thought and behavior using concepts and theories from cognitive science.

Nathaniel F. Barrett set out to highlight some aspects of this science, including its relationship with the founders of cognitive science, how it has been defined and its interpretive stance vis-à-vis humanistic disciplines that address religion (e.g., sociology and the history of religion), the role of related research among the controversial "new atheists," such as Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins, how theologians and philosophers of religion respond to this science's proposals, and how it influences public discourse on religion.

He also discussed how an adequate use of the cognitive science of religion might contribute to the understanding of religious phenomenon and public dialogue on religious issues.

Nathaniel F. Barrett is a research fellow within the Mind-Brain Group at the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra. He completed his studies at Yale, Harvard and Boston University and his current research focuses on the historical and philosophical study of the relationship between science and religion, with a particular emphasis on the concept of nature involved in a scientific and religious understanding of the human person.