F. LeRon Shults

Professor F. LeRon Shults holds a faculty position at the University of Agder's Department of Global Development and Planning. His research focuses on social simulation, computational social science, and the cognitive science of religion. He leads projects analyzing secularization trends, prosocial behavior, and pandemic response strategies through agent-based modeling. Collaborations include international teams addressing issues like religious demography, ethical AI systems, and conflict resolution. Key contributions include modeling the role of religious motivation in societal cooperation and simulating emotional contagion during crises.

Research groups affiliated with him include 'Mobility, culture and gender' and 'Social simulation'. His work bridges disciplines such as sociology, cognitive science, and public policy. Recent studies explore secularization's evolutionary foundations, psychedelic experience analysis, and the ethics of artificial societies. He actively participates in conferences and publishes in journals like *Theory and Society* and *Religion, Brain and Behavior*.