Associate Professor Jesse Bering

Jesse Bering is an award-winning science writer specialising in human behaviour. His first book, The Belief Instinct (2011), was included on the American Library Association's Top 25 Books of the Year. This was followed by a collection of his previously published essays, Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? (2012), and Perv (2013), a taboo-breaking work that received widespread critical acclaim and was named as a New York Times Editor's Choice. His latest book is Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves and will be released in 2018. All of his books have been translated into many different languages. 

Bering and his work have been featured in numerous documentaries, TV shows, and radio programs, including Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Conan, Chelsea Lately, Q&A (Australia), NPR's "All Things Considered," and the BBC. In addition to writing extensively for Scientific American and Slate magazines, his essays and opinion pieces have also appeared in Playboy, The New York Times, The Guardian, Discover, Vice, The New Republic, and many others. 

An experimental psychologist by training, Bering's primary research area is the cognitive science of religion and he has published extensively in that field. He began his career at the University of Arkansas as an Assistant Professor of Psychology (2002-2006). He then served as Director of the Institute of Cognition and Culture at the Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he was Reader in the School of History and Anthropology (2006-2011). Presently, he is the Director of the Centre for Science Communication.

To learn more about Jesse's work, visit www.jessebering.com. 

Current Teaching

• SCOM 402 The Craft of Storytelling
• SCOM 432 The Craft of Storytelling (Distance)
• SCOM 404 Science Communication Internship 
• SCOM 434 Science Communication Internship (Distance)
• SCOM 5a Science Communication Thesis Preparation

Research Interests

• Cognitive science and religion
• Human sexuality
• Suicidology
• Evolutionary psychology
• Social psychology and science communication

Potential Postgraduate Projects

• Communicating controversial scientific topics in conflict with religious ideologies  
• Development of efficacious science communication practices in prisons
• Experimental (lab-based) approaches to social psychology and science communication 
• Evolved psychological functioning applied to biases in science communication 

Current PhD Students

• Evan Balkcom - The maintenance of unbelief in light of experiences that challenge it 
• Susan Hamel - The creation and use of e-learning material in science communication
• Emma Harcourt - The use of scientific language by anti-abortion groups
• Manon Knapen - How do homeopathy users perceive homeopathy?
• Bonnie Scarth - Perceptions of suffering, suicide, and physician-assisted suicide
• Daniel Silva-Luna - Awe in science communication 

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Publications