About Us
Dr Lotty Brand
Stephen Batchelor
Stephen Batchelor
Lotty has spent the last ten years as a researcher in the evolution of human behaviour. Her PhD was from the University of St Andrews’ School of Psychology and Neuroscience in ‘Cultural Evolution’ - a scientific framework for understanding how human behaviour has evolved not just genetically but socially and culturally. Since then she has
Lotty has spent the last ten years as a researcher in the evolution of human behaviour. Her PhD was from the University of St Andrews’ School of Psychology and Neuroscience in ‘Cultural Evolution’ - a scientific framework for understanding how human behaviour has evolved not just genetically but socially and culturally. Since then she has worked for the University of Exeter and the University of Sheffield covering a wide range of topics: from social hierarchies in Cornwall, to open-mindedness and conflict resolution online, to shifting gender norms in rural Tanzania.
She has published research in peer-reviewed scientific journals, given talks at international conferences, contributed chapters to The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Evolution and has written for Psychology Today, Aeon magazine and Semicolon magazine. She has been interviewed by BBC 5 Live, Radio New Zealand and The Times, as well as giving multiple "AccessLab" workshops to broaden access to the scientific literature.
Having been cited in a UK parliamentary report on research integrity and reproducibility, she takes scientific rigour seriously, and recently fell in love with Secular Buddhism. Sharing what Secular Buddhism can offer our lives, and how it fits with the latest research on human behaviour is the aim of the Buddhism Evolves project.
Stephen Batchelor
Stephen Batchelor
Stephen Batchelor
Stephen Batchelor was born in Dundee, Scotland - and after travelling to India at age 18, he settled in Dharamsala, the capital-in-exile of the Dalai Lama, and studied Tibetan Buddhism. He was ordained as a novice monk in the Gelug tradition in 1974, received full ordination in 1976, and spent the next ten years reading and teaching in bo
Stephen Batchelor was born in Dundee, Scotland - and after travelling to India at age 18, he settled in Dharamsala, the capital-in-exile of the Dalai Lama, and studied Tibetan Buddhism. He was ordained as a novice monk in the Gelug tradition in 1974, received full ordination in 1976, and spent the next ten years reading and teaching in both the Tibetan and Zen traditions in Switzerland and South Korea.
Having learnt the Tibetan language, as well as Pali - the language of the earliest Buddhist scriptures - Stephen began returning to the original teachings of the Buddha, using these to inform his development of a ‘Secular Buddhism.’ In 1997 Stephen published “Buddhism Without Beliefs”, becoming a national bestseller, inspiring many who were drawn to Buddhism but had difficulties with some of the more dogmatic aspects of the faith.
Following this success, Stephen has published many other books including “Confession of a Buddhist Atheist”, “After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age”, “Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World”, and is currently working on “Buddha, Socrates and Us: Notes for an Ethics of Uncertainty” to be published in 2025. He has taught Buddhist courses as part of the Sharpham community in Devon, and now the international Bodhi College.