معرفی
Peter Maňo, PhD is a researcher at the Institute of Ethnology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences specializing in evolutionary and cognitive approaches to religion and ritual studies, with particular expertise in Mauritian Hindu practices. He joined the institute in 2019 after completing his PhD in 2019 and MA in 2012.
His educational background includes studies at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University (Social Anthropology, 2019), Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University & LEVYNA (Religious Studies, ongoing), and the Institute of Cognition and Culture, Queen's University Belfast (Cognition & Culture, 2012). He is fluent in English, German, and Mauritian Creole, facilitating his cross-cultural research.
Dr. Maňo's research bridges evolutionary theory, cognitive science, and anthropology to investigate how rituals function as costly signals and social regulators. His work employs both experimental methods and traditional ethnography, with extensive fieldwork conducted in Mauritius. He examines the cognitive mechanisms underlying religious behavior and how ritual practices influence social dynamics and community cohesion across cultural contexts.
His scholarly contributions reveal consistent patterns in ritual cognition and function across diverse cultural settings, with particular attention to how religious practices adapt in multicultural environments like Mauritius. His publications demonstrate methodological innovation through combining laboratory-style experiments with in-depth ethnographic observation.
- John McGraw Award for Best Student Paper at the International Association for the Cognitive Science of Religion (2018)
- Fulbright Scholarship (2017/2018)
- National Scholarship Program (2016/2017)
- Tatra banka: Students into the world (2016/2017)
- Queen's University Belfast: Degree Plus Award (2011/2012)
Dr. Maňo has taught experimental research at Masaryk University, ethnographic methods at Aarhus University, and Anthropology of Religion at Comenius University. His international research experience includes positions at the University of Connecticut, University of Mauritius, and University of East London, reflecting his commitment to cross-cultural comparative approaches in the study of religion.
