Research on Social and Religious Cognition
I write about some of the topics that I have been thinking about as a researcher in my psychology today blog.
I have written a piece for Templeton Ideas on how nonbelievers find existential comfort.
I co-host "Beyond Stories/ فرای قصه ها" a podcast in Persian where together with Amir Saemi, a philosopher friend, we discuss concepts and themes from the viewpoint of philosophy and psychology through the medium of Persian literature.
We interview researchers and scholars from major universities in the world on these themes, translate the interviews into Persian, bring our own views as well as data into the discussion, and delve deep into world of ideas and stories for the duration of each episode. Here are some of the topics and interviews we have recorded (each through a different classical or modern work of literature in Persian).
Silence (through "With Shobeiroo" by Mahmoud Dolatabadi) - interview with Sergia Hay on ethical silence
Memories (through "You will Return to Esfehan" by Mostafa Ensani) - interview with Sara Aronowitz on memory as a modeling system, and Marya Schechtman on memory and identity
Domestic Labor (through "I will Turn the Lights Off" by Zoya Pirzad) - interview with Claudia Geist on gender inequality, and Andrea Veltman on Simone de Beauvoir's analysis of housework and the distinction between transcendence and immanence.
Judgment (through "Her Eyes" by Bozorg Alavi) - interview with Joseph McGuire on cognitive biases, and Gareth Williams on the ethics of judging.
Aging (through "Landing - پاگرد" by Mohammad Hasan Shahsavari) - interview with Monika Ardelt on wisdom, and flourishing over age and Camil Golub on retrospective attitudes and regret
Adoption (through "Call me Ziba" by Farhad Hassanzadeh) - interview with Barbara Bennett Woodhouse on children's rights and Samaneh Taheri (lawyer in Iran) on legal processes of adoption.
Trauma (through "Pruning" by Nasim Marashi) - interview with Susan Brison about her book, the Aftermath, and Nasim Marashi.