William W. McCorkle Jr.
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William "Lee" Wagner McCorkle Jr. is an evolutionary anthropologist interested in the interface between cognition, culture, and religion. He completed (2007) his doctoral research at the Institute of Cognition and Culture at the Queen's University, Belfast under the supervision of Professor E. Thomas Lawson and Professor Harvey Whitehouse (Oxford University). Dr. McCorkle's research examined the nature of ritualized disposal behavior of humans cross culturally (especially in regards to Buddhist traditions). Moreover, his most recent research has concentrated on the evolution of ritual behavior in vertical (generation to generation) and horizontal (peer to peer) transmission.
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[edit] Career
Dr. McCorkle currently lectures on the topic of cognition and culture in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Winthrop University. He has presented papers at conferences internationally on topics ranging from early Indian Buddhism, ritualized compulsions and ritual behavior, disgust and contagion, the psychology of branding cultural representations, personality and culture, and theory and method in the study of religion and culture (especially as it pertains to the history of the field and the interface between explanation and interpretation type theorizing.
[edit] Publications
"Memes, genes, and dead machines: Evolutionary anthropology of death and burial" (2008) in The Evolution of Religion edited by J. Bulbulia et al. Santa Margarita: Collins Foundation Press.
"From corpse to concept: Beyond meaning in the ritualized treatment of dead bodies" (2008/forthcoming) in Origins of Religion edited by A. Geertz London: Equinox Press LTD.
[edit] Other Interests
His other interests include Music under the name Leisure McCorkle. He currently has released four cd's Nappy Superstar (1997/1998), American Ghetto Pop Machine (1999), Beautiful (2000), and Jet Set Baby (2002). He plans to release a fifth album 5000 Light Years Beyond the Speed of Sound in 2008/2009. His website is www.leisuremccorkle.com.
[edit] Related Links
cognitive science of religion, cognitive science of culture, evolutionary psychology, evolutionary anthropology, history of religions, Indian Mahayana Buddhism, mortuary rituals, ritual studies, International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion IACSR, American Academy of Religion, American Anthropological Association,
