Hampshire College

The Foundation for Psychocultural Research--Hampshire College Program in Culture, Brain, and Development hosted the following lectures, seminars, screenings, and panel discussions.

Rapture: Religious Ecstatics and "Deep Listeners," by Judith Becker, PUBLIC LECTURE on Februay 11, 2010

Judith Becker, professor emeritus of ethnomusicology, University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, is an authority on Indonesian music, Becker was director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies and co-founder and director of the Center for World Performance Studies at the University of Michigan and is the author of numerous articles and three books, including Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing (2004) for which she received the Alan Merriam award from the Society for Ethnomusicology for the best book in ethnomusicology published in 2004. She is also author of the three-volume set of translations entitled Karawitan: Source Readings in Javanese Gamelan and Vocal Music (1984, 1986, 1987). Through exploring the common ground between the humanistic/cultural/anthropological and the scientific/cognitive/psychological, Becker’s research focuses on the relationships between music, emotion, and ecstasy in institutionalized religious contexts and in secular contexts.

ABSTRACT:
In her book Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion and Trancing (2004), Judith Becker proposed that there may be a physiological relationship between religious ecstatics and secular "deep listeners." She defines "deep listeners" as those people who may feel chills or goosebumps, or who may cry when listening to music they find moving. She proposes that both religious ecstatics and "deep listeners" experience strong, deep brain emotional responses when listening to music they find deeply moving. Her talk is about a scientific experiment that she conducted to test the hypothesis concerning a physiological relationship between religious ecstatics and deep listeners.

Ferocious Beauty: Genome by Liz Lerman Dance Exchange ANNOTATED KEYNOTE PRESENTATION on November 13, 2009
Genetic research raises prospects that previous generations may scarcely have imagined: of prolonging life and maintaining youth indefinitely; of replicating an individual; of choosing the bodies and brains of our children; and of creating new species to feed and serve us. How we heal, age, procreate, and eat may all be altered in the next years by scientific research happening right now. In Ferocious Beauty: Genome Liz Lerman Dance Exchange explores the current historic moment of revelation and questioning in genetic research. Under the artistic direction of choreographer Liz Lerman the subject is represented through a plurality of viewpoints, mirroring a dialogue among multiple voices--artistic, scientific, and scholarly--in all their varied perspectives.

Dancing Through Science PANEL DISCUSSION on November 12, 2009
Discussion of collaborations between artists and scientists:
Liz Lerman
Choreographer and Director, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
Laura Grabel
Lauren B. Dachs Professor of Science in Society, Wesleyan University
Billbob Brown
Director of Chaos Theory Dance and Associate Professor of Dance, Universiy of Massachusetts/Amherst
Herb Bernstein
Professor of Physics, Hampshire College

Is It Art? A Case-study in the Cognitive Science of Pleasure by Paul Bloom, Ph.D. PUBLIC LECTURE on September 24, 2009

Paul Bloom is professor of psychology at Yale University. His research explores how children and adults understand the physical and social world, with special focus on morality, religion, fiction, and art. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is past-president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology, and co-editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, one of the major journals in the field. Dr. Bloom has written for scientific journals such as Nature and Science, and for popular outlets such as the New York Times, the Guardian, and the Atlantic. He is the author or editor of four books, including How Children Learn the Meanings of Words, and, most recently, Descartes' Baby: How the Science of Child Development Explains What Makes Us Human.

Why are original paintings so much more valuable than forgeries? Why do people pay millions for abstract art? How do creations such as Duchamp's urinal get to be artwork in the first place? I present evidence that our understanding and appreciation of art--even contemporary art--reflects universal aspects of human nature. I argue that the experience of art is not special: There are deep parallels between the pleasures we get from artwork and the pleasures we get from seemingly simpler activities such as food and sex.

Documentary by Robert Lemelson, "40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy," PUBLIC SCREENING on April 27, 2009

Hampshire College invited the public to a special screening of the film 40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy. The film, from Elemental Productions, was directed and produced by documentary filmmaker and psychological anthropologist Robert Lemelson, a Hampshire College alum, and edited by two-time Academy Award winner Pietro Scalia (JFK and Black Hawk Down). Filmmaker Lemelson attended the screening and was available for a question-and-answer session with the audience immediately after.

40 Years of Silence: An Indonesian Tragedy is the powerful feature length documentary that deals with how children perceive, cope with, and come to terms with severe trauma caused by the death, imprisonment, and disappearance of close family members. It primarily focuses on the long-lasting multi-generational consequences of psychological, physical, and socio-cultural trauma.

“Depression, Suicide, Culture, and Global Pharmaceuticals: The Moral and Political Economy of Psychiatric Disorders in Global Health” by Arthur Kleinman, M.D., DISTINGUISHED LECTURE on April 16, 2009

Arthur Kleinman, M.D. is one of the world’s leading medical anthropologists. He is also a major figure in cultural psychiatry, global health, and social medicine. Kleinman is the Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University; and Professor of Medical Anthropology and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is at present Victor and William Fung Director of Harvard University’s Asia Center.

LECTURE ABSTRACT:
Mental health conditions account for fifteen percent of the global disease burden. They are also among the most economically burdensome of health conditions, and depression is a leading cause of disability. In all societies in which statistics are kept, suicide is one of the top ten causes of death. In addition, mental health problems are among the most stigmatized in all societies, contributing to the wide gap between disease burden and available resources. I will examine both the moral economy and political economy that frames global mental health and address the role that culture plays in shaping illness experiences and interventions. I will also examine mental health consequences of major changes of our time, including the current global economic crisis, and make the case for why global mental health is a subject that requires much greater attention and resources. I will look at pharmaceutical use for the treatment of mental health issues and the paradox of pharmaceutical misuse in resource-poor settings: drugs unavailable in rural areas and overused in urban settings. Finally, I will set out an agenda for global mental health.


"Understanding Child Abuse: From Neurobiology to Social Policy" by Joan Kaufman, Ph.D., PUBLIC LECTURE on Nov. 13, 2008

Joan Kaufman is associate professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, director of the Child and Adolescent Research and Education (C.A.R.E.) Program, and co-director of the Zigler Center Child Welfare Unit.

LECTURE ABSTRACT:
Preclinical (e.g. animal) and clinical studies suggest that stress early in life can promote long-term changes in stress reactivity, brain development, and behavior. Relevant research is reviewed, including emerging findings on the role of genetic and environmental factors in moderating the effects of early stress. Clinical implications of this work are highlighted, and it is suggested that the development of innovative multidisciplinary treatment strategies will be enhanced by a program of research that spans from neurobiology to social policy.


"Embodiment in Metaphorical Imagination" by Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., Ph.D., PUBLIC LECTURE on Feb. 7, 2008

Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr. is professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He received his B.A. from Hampshire College, his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, and did postdoctoral research in cognitive science at Yale and Stanford Universities. Gibbs is author of the books The Poetics of Mind: Figurative Thought, Language, and Understanding (1994), Intentions in the Experience of Meaning (1999), and Embodiment and Cognitive Science (2006). He is editor of the Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought (2008); co-editor with Gerard Steen of Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics (1999); co-editor with Herbert Colston of  Irony in Language and Thought: A Cognitive Science Reader (2007); and editor of the journal Metaphor and Symbol. His research interests include psycholinguistics, embodied cognition, and pragmatics.

LECTURE ABSTRACT:
Many metaphor scholars in cognitive science and related academic disciplines now argue that metaphor is not just a linguistic device, but also a fundamental part of human cognition. "Conceptual metaphors" such as LIFE IS A JOURNEY or UNDERSTANDING IS GRASPING are pervasive in ordinary speech and writing, appear to be essential for how people conceive abstract concepts, and may be quickly recruited during many aspects of language production and understanding. Recent research even suggests that many conceptual metaphors appear to be grounded in recurring patterns of bodily experience, and thus provides additional evidence in favor of "embodied cognition." My talk offers an analysis of "conceptual metaphors" from a multidisciplinary perspective, and describes recent empirical evidence in support of the idea that many aspects of abstract thought are structured in terms of "embodied metaphor." I more specifically will claim that people ordinarily engage in embodied simulation processes when using metaphorical language, and, more generally, thinking in imaginative ways about their lives and the world around them.

For more information:
Gibbs' home page psych.ucsc.edu/directory/details.php?id=10
Wikipedia "cognitive linguistics" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive linguistics
 
"Autism: What does it mean to be a spectrum disorder?" by Roberto Tuchman, M.D., PUBLIC LECTURE on October 18, 2007

Roberto Tuchman, M.D., FAAN, FAAP, is the director of Autism and Related Disorder Programs at Miami Children' s Hospital Dan Marino Center and director of Developmental and Behavioral Neurology at Miami Children' s Hospital. He is the founding director of the Miami Children’s Hospital Dan Marino Center for children with developmental disorders, and served as its executive medical director from its start in 1998 through 2001. Dr. Tuchman is an associate professor of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is a graduate of Hampshire College. He earned his M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with Special Qualification in Child Neurology. He is a fellow of  the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Neurology. Dr. Tuchman has published and lectured nationally and internationally on the topic of developmental disorders including autism, ADHD, epilepsy, and learning disorders. He serves on the long-range planning committee for the Child Neurology Society. He is on the editorial board of Pediatric Neurology and serves as a reviewer for numerous neurology publications. With Isabelle Rapin, he is the co-editor of Autism: A Neurological Disorder of Early Brain Development, which was published by Mac Keith Press in association with the International Child Neurology Association (ICNA), in 2006.

LECTURE ABSTRACT:
The labels of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) or Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) are commonly used to describe individuals who have varying deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication and social skills and a restricted repertoire of interests or repetitive behaviors. These labels are now used interchangeably with autism. The criteria for determining who is and is not affected by autism are based on arbitrary clinical behaviors. The characteristic clinical feature that set autism apart from other disorders of brain development associated with communication and behavioral problems are impairments in reciprocal social interaction. Is there more autism or are we just recognizing it more? How do we define social deficits? What are the causes of autism and what factors biologically and culturally impact the social phenotype? How do early deficits in social communication lead to the clinical phenotype of autism, and what are the cellular and neural mechanisms that define the social constructs that determine social cognition? These questions will be discussed from the perspective of child neurology. The focus of the discussion will be on the changing criteria of autism over time and how this has affected the concept of the “normal” social phenotype. Examples of etiologies of autism will be discussed. The early social constructs that determine an individual’s distinctive social phenotype will be demonstrated. Our present understanding of the neuronal networks responsible for social behavior will be reviewed and discussed in terms of intervention strategies for social communication disorders.

For further information about Dr. Tuchman's work:
Autism: A Neurological Disorder of Early Brain Development, Roberto Tuchman, and Isabelle Rapin (editors), a review.
The Marino Family's Fight Against Autism on MSNBC in 2005.
New York Times MAGAZINE:
1) July 29, 2007: "The Real Transformers," By ROBIN MARANTZ HENIG: "Researchers are programming robots to learn in humanlike ways and show humanlike traits. Could this be the beginning of robot consciousness and of a better understanding of ourselves?"
2) August 5, 2007: "What Autistic Girsl Are Made Of," By EMILY BAZELON: "...research and the observations of some clinicians who work with autistic girls suggest that because of biology and experience, and the interaction between the two, autism may express itself differently in girls. And that may have implications for their well-being."

"A Talent for Life: Reflections on Human Vulnerability and Resilience" by Nancy Scheper-Hughes, DISTINGUISHED LECTURE on November 30, 2006

Nancy Scheper-Hughes is professor of medical anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she directs the doctoral program in Critical Studies in Medicine, Science, and the Body. She was a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in 2006-7. Her lifework concerns the violence of everyday life examined from a radical existentialist and politically engaged perspective. Her examination of structural and political violence, of what she calls "small wars and invisible genocides," has allowed her to develop a so-called 'militant' anthropology, which has been broadly applied to medicine, psychiatry, and to the practice of anthropology.

LECTURE ABSTRACT:
My talk deals with human resilience and 'hardiness' as opposed to human frailty and vulnerability. The experience of catastrophe, disaster, and trauma are part of the expected backdrop of everyday life among people living in protracted war zones and under social and economic conditions that mimic wartime. In these cases, traumas are constant, unresolved, and repeated, and only rarely consigned to history, the past, and the relative luxury of trace or traumatic memories. Based on decades of anthropological research among 'hunted' street kids, mothers, and infants on the verge of die-outs in the drought-plagued Nordeste of Brazil, massacre survivors of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, and dis-placed and dis-graced kidney sellers duped or seduced into providing their organs to first world transplant tourists, I argue that human resilience and 'hardiness' have been grossly underestimated in contemporary psychological and anthropological literature. Drawing on very disparate life histories and very different contexts, I will outline "what it takes" to live under such conditions, and to suggest an alternative model of adversity and survival.

"A Comparative Approach to Human Origins" by Svante Pääbo, DISTINGUISHED LECTURE on November 7, 2006

Svante Pääbo is director of the Department of Evolutionary Genetics at The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, where he is a biologist specializing in evolutionary genetics. In 2006 his research team isolated the long segments of genetic material from a 45,000-year-old Neanderthal fossil from Croatia. The work should reveal how closely related the Neanderthal species was to modern humans, Homo sapiens.

LECTURE ABSTRACT:
One approach to understanding what makes humans unique as a species is to perform structural and functional comparisons between the genomes of humans and our closest evolutionary relatives, the great apes. Recently, the draft sequence of the chimpanzee genome has opened up new possibilities in this area. I will describe work that compares the DNA sequences and activities of human and chimpanzee genes and discuss evidence that suggests that genes expressed in the brain may have been particularly important during human evolution. I will also argue that a genome-wide analysis of the Neanderthal genome would substantially enhance our ability to identify genes that have been recent targets of positive selection during human evolution.

"The Information Value of Facial Expressions of Emotion" by Paul Whalen, PUBLIC LECTURE on March 9, 2006

Paul Whalen is assistant professor of cognitive neuroscience at Dartmouth College in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Whalen's research aims to better understand the neural substrates of biologically relevant learning in the human. The focus is the amygdala as a model system for such learning. Building upon animal and human research documenting the role of the amygdala in emotion, specifically fear, Whalen aims to expose the more subtle abilities of this system in the modulation of moment-to-moment levels of vigilance.

LECTURE ABSTRACT: Whalen uses brain imaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI) to study emotion: specifically, how the brain responds to perceived threats. To be more specific, Whalen studies the brain’s response to the facial expressions of others. “What is he afraid of?” “Should I be afraid too?” We will see that a brain area called the amygdala is particularly responsive to what is predicted by the facial expressions of others. In addition, the prefrontal cortex attempts to control some of this reactivity. It is in this conversation between the prefrontal cortex and brain areas like the amygdala that we see interesting differences across individuals. This work has implications for understanding one’s own fluctuating anxiety levels as well as diagnosable disorders of fear management (i.e., anxiety disorders). Visit Whalen's laboratory website for more information: www.whalenlab.info

"The Emergence of Gender Difference in Young Children" by Anne Fausto-Sterling, DISTINGUISHED LECTURE on March 2, 2006

Anne Fausto-Sterling is professor of biology and gender studies in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University and chair of the Faculty Committee on Science and Technology Studies. Fausto-Sterling's research applies dynamic systems theory to the study of human development. Dynamic systems theory permits us to understand how cultural difference becomes bodily difference. Her current case studies in this area examine sex differences in bone development and the emergence of gender differences in behavior in early childhood.

"Music, Brain, and Culture" by Jamshed Bharucha, PUBLIC LECTURE on February 23, 2006

Jamshed Bharucha is provost and senior vice president of Tufts University as well as professor in the Psychology Department. His research is on the perception of music, using computational neural net modeling and brain imaging techniques. He has co-developed two successful software products for teaching. Bharucha is a trustee of the International Foundation for Music Research and was editor of the interdisciplinary journal Music Perception.

LECTURE ABSTRACT: Culture is learned automatically by the brain. The brain then uses this implicit knowledge to filter subsequent perception through "cultural lenses". This is true of all aspects of culture, including music. Our brains internalize the structural patterns and emotional associations that are pervasive in the musical cultures to which we are exposed. My students and I tested this hypothesis with brain imaging, using functional magnetic resonance (fMRI). We tracked the brain activity of volunteers from India and the United States while they listened to samples of Indian and Western music, as well as samples of spoken Hindi and English. Our results suggest that for both music and language, the brain responds differently to music that is culturally familiar than to music that is culturally unfamiliar, although the results are more complex for music than for language. In my talk I will also critique the co-called "Mozart effect"--the belief that listening to Mozart or other forms of music affects the brain in ways that affect spatial reasoning and other non-musical cognitive skills.

"On Emotional Experience" by Robert Solomon, PUBLIC LECTURE on  February 16, 2006

Robert Solomon is Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Business and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a specialist in the philosophy of emotions, business ethics, and post-Kantian continental philosophy. He has also published extensively on ethics and the history of philosophy. His more than forty books include Living with Nietzsche (Oxford, 2003) and a three-volume series On the Passionate Life. The first two volumes appeared in 2003 and 2004: The Joy of Philosophy: Thinking Thin versus the Passionate Life and Not Passion's Slave: Emotions and Choice.

"Evolution, Science, and Intelligent Design," PANEL DISCUSSION on February 8, 2006
The panelists discussed the principal arguments offered in support of intelligent design; the theory of and evidence for evolution by natural selection; why intelligent design does not belong in a science classroom; and the relationships between evolution, religion, and our quest for meaning. Open discussion followed.

Panelists and their school affiliation, listed alphabetically:
   *Ernie Alleva, instructor, First-Year Program, Cognitive Science
   *Mark Feinstein, professor of linguistics and animal cognition, Cognitive Science
   *Laura Sizer, assistant professor of philosophy, Cognitive Science
   *Lee Spector, professor of computer science, Cognitive Science
   *Jason Tor, assistant professor of microbiology, Natural Science
   *James Wald, associate professor of history, Social Science
   *Moderator: Salman Hameed, assistant professor of integrated science and humanities, Natural Science, and Cognitive Science

"Island of Lost Souls," MOVIE and PANEL DISCUSSION on NOV. 28, 2005. Discussion led by Lynn Miller, Ernie Alleva, and Jeff Wallen. This 1933 version of the movie starring Charles Laughton provoked questions about genetic engineering and ethics.

"Beyond Dick and Jane: Multiple Views on Multiple Genders," PANEL DISCUSSION on Nov. 15, 2005

In 2004 the president of Harvard University suggested that innate differences between the sexes could account for why fewer women succeed in math and science careers, bringing to light the continued ignorance of the complexity of sex. What are sex and gender? It is clear that sex and gender go beyond the X and Y chromosomes, but what role does biology play in shaping psychological and cultural differences? Likewise, how does the cultural performance of gender affect what we think of as "biological" differences? The Culture, Brain, and Development program at Hampshire College presents a panel discussion of these issues featuring faculty from the schools of CS, HACU, NS, and SS (alphabetically). Bringing together research from the fields of neuroendocrinology, culture theory, cognitive psychology, and sociology, the panel moves beyond conventional binaries to explore the complex interaction of genes, hormones, and ideology that produce and transform the lived experience of sex/gender.

Panelists and their school affiliation, listed alphabetically:
    * Jane Couperus, FPR-HC assistant professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience, School of Cognitive Science
    * Bethany Ogdon, assistant professor of media studies, School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies
    * Cynthia Gill, assistant professor of physiology, School of Natural Science
    * Kristen Luschen, assistant professor of education studies, School of Social Science

"Inherit the Wind," MOVIE and PANEL DISCUSSION on Nov. 2, 2005. Discussion led by Hampshire faculty James Miller, professor of communications, and Aaron Berman, professor of history.

"Gene Traders: Biotechnology, Globalization, and Resistance" by Brian Tokar, PUBLIC LECTURE on Oct. 27, 2005

Brian Tokar is director of the Institute for Social Ecology's Biotechnology Project, which does community organizing against the biotechnology industry. He is also a faculty member at the Institute. In addition, he is the editor of two books on the subject of biotechnology: Redesigning Life and Gene Traders. The talk was co-hosted by: the Population and Development Program; the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program; the School of Natural Science; The Culture, Brain, and Development Program; and the Students for the Freedom to Unionize.

"What are Emotions? A Brief History of Competing Theories" by Jenefer Robinson, PUBLIC LECTURE on Oct. 24, 2005. Mount Holyoke College and CBD co-hosted the lecture. Robinson is professor of philosophy at the University of Cincinnati.

"Disgusted at the Movies: the Rhetoric of the Revolting in Film," by Carl Plantinga, PUBLIC LECTURE on Oct. 19, 2005
Mount Holyoke College and CBD co-hosted the lecture. Plantinga is associate professor, Communication Arts and Science Department, Calvin College, and is the author of Rhetoric and Representation in Nonfiction Film (Cambridge University Press, 1997) and co-editor of Passionate Views: Thinking about Film and Emotion (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998).

"Matters of Life and Death," PANEL DISCUSSION on April 25, 2005. CBD and and the Law Program at Hampshire College co-hosted the panel discussion.

The Terry Schiavo case has raised difficult questions about the nature and quality of life and death, and has confronted all of us with the uncomfortable fact that there are conditions or states that are perhaps somewhere between life and death. Such states raise questions that do not yield to easy answers and require us to wrestle simultaneously with science, law, philosophy, and religion: What does it mean to be alive/dead/in a coma/persistent vegetative state/minimally conscious state? What makes life worth living? When is it okay to end a life? Who should make these decisions? What other legal issues are in play at the end of life? And what role should the government play in these determinations? The Culture, Brain, and Development program and the Law Program at Hampshire College present a panel discussion of these issues that brings together scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, and experts in the study of religion and legal studies. Come bring your own questions and ideas, and participate in the discussion.

Panelists and their school affiliation, listed alphabetically:
    * Ernie Alleva, instructor, First Year Program, Hampshire College; and lecturer and research associate in philosophy, Smith College
    * Jane Couperus, FPR-HC assistant professor of developmental cognitive neuroscience, Hampshire College
    * Mario D'Amato, visiting assistant professor of Asian religions and the philosophy of religion, Hampshire College
    * James Harold, assistant professor of philosophy, Mount Holyoke College
    * Stephanie Levin, visiting assistant professor of legal studies, Hampshire College
    * Laura Sizer, assistant professor of philosophy, Hampshire College
    * Neil Stillings, professor of psychology, Hampshire College
    * Barbara Yngvesson, professor of anthropology, Hampshire College

"Movements and Madness, an Ethnographic Film on the Entanglements of Culture and Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Indonesia," by Rob Lemelson and Dag Yngvesson, in collaboration with psychiatrist Mahar Agusno. FILM on April 15, 2005.

Rob Lemelson is a lecturer in the Departments of Anthropology and Psychology at UCLA, and the president of the Foundation for Psychocultural Research.

"The Birth of the Mind: Genes, Neurons, and the Origins of Mental Life," by Gary Marcus, PUBLIC LECTURE on April 7, 2005 

Gary F. Marcus is associate professor of psychology and neural science in the Department of Psychology of New York University. He received his B.A. in Cognitive Science from Hampshire College and his Ph.D. from MIT's Department of Brain in Cognitive Sciences. He is the author of over 30 articles in leading journals such as Science and Nature, and the author of two books, The Algebraic Mind, published by MIT Press, and his new book, The Birth of The Mind, about genes and human nature, which has just been released in paperback. It's also just been translated into Italian, with a Japanese translation due at the end of March 2005. In the words of Noam Chomsky, The Birth of Mind is "a wonderful contribution to our understanding of the biological basis for higher mental processes." He won the 1996 Robert Fantz award for new investigators in cognitive development, and he was a fellow at the prestigious Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California.

"To Act and Think in Conventional Ways: How a Young Child Gets Common Sense With a Growing Brain" by Colwyn Trevarthen, DISTINGUISHED LECTURE on March 30, 2005

Colwyn Trevarthen is professor (Emeritus) of Child Psychology and Psychobiology in the Department of Psychology of the University of Edinburgh. He was trained as a biologist and psychologist. He has published widely on brain development; the development of communication in infants and toddlers; musical and gestural communication, parent-infant interaction; and the interpersonal foundations of language and meaning. He has co-authored and edited Brain Circuits and Functions of the Mind: Essays in Honor of Roger Sperry; Children with Autism; and Music Therapy in Context: Music, Meaning and Relationship.

"The 'Putting the baby down' Hypothesis: Bipedalism, Babbling, and Baby Slings," by Dean Falk, DISTINGUISHED LECTURE on February 17, 2005

Dean Falk is Hale G. Smith Professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology, Florida State University. Her research focuses on the evolution of the brain and cognition in higher primates, including hominins.* She is author of Braindance, Primate Diversity, and Evolutionary Anatomy of the Primate Cerebral Cortex (co-edited with Kathleen Gibson). Dean Falk presented her recently formulated hypothesis that relates the appearance and elaboration of prelinguistic neurological and behavioral substrates in early hominins to the evolution of infant-directed speech (“motherese" or “musical speech”) in conjunction with selection for bipedalism. This hypothesis predicts that certain areas of the right (musical) hemisphere became “hotspots” at an early point during hominin evolution--a prediction that she is in the process of testing on fossil endocasts. This work appeared as a target article in the February 2005 issue of Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

*Note from Falk: Everyone now understands "hominins" (a tribe) to mean humans and their non-apelike early ancestors (e.g., australopithecines). In other words, what "hominids" used to mean. The term "hominids" is currently ambiguous because some people use it the traditional way as just defined, but a bunch of others (cladists) now include great apes and us in that term. The field is fast shifting to hominins and I use it because no one can mistake what is meant by it.

"Explaining the 'Magic' of Consciousness," by Daniel C. Dennett,  PUBLIC LECTURE on February 25, 2005
Daniel C. Dennett is Distinguished Arts and Sciences Professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University, where he is Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies.

March 23, 2004
Panel Discussion: "Beyond Nature vs. Nurture"
(Discussion of the implications of panelists' research on the interrelationships of nature and nurture for debates about the range of developmental plasticity in humans and for views that some developmental outcomes are innate)
by Annie Rogers (SS), Ray Coppinger (CS), and Eileen Anderson-Fye, postdoctoral fellow, Center for Culture and Health, Neuropsychiatric Institute, UCLA

April 8, 2004
PUBLIC LECTURE: "What Neurology Can Tell Us About Human Nature, Consciousness, and Art"
by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran M.D., Ph.D.,
Director, Center for Brain and Cognition
University Professor at the University of California, San Diego
Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute

May 10, 2004
Division III Presentations
Caitlin Berrigan, "La Specola" (a screening)
Eric Anderson, "Moral Cognition"
Jasmine Loveland, "Assessing Abnormal Behaviors in Captive Dogs at the Pioneer Valley Humane Society"
Aliza Yarrow, "Intergenerational Theatre"
Amanda Dennis, "M/OTHER"

September 30, 2004
PUBLIC LECTURE: "The Evolution of Our Moral Instincts"
by Marc D. Hauser
Professor in the Department of Psychology and Program in Neurosciences, Harvard University
Co-Director of the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Program and Director of the Primate Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory

October 1, 2004
"Brain Bag" Lunch: Discussion of Marc Hauser's lecture "Thinking More About Our Moral Instincts."
Conversation in response to critiques by Hampshire faculty Barbara Yngvesson, Laura Sizer, Bruce Blumberg (MIT), and Jane Couperus

October 4, 2004
PUBLIC LECTURE: "Shaping the Intimate: Influences on the Experience of Everyday Nerves"
by David Healy
Director of the North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine
Former secretary of the British Association for Psychopharmacology
Visiting professor at the University of Toronto

Thursday, November 11, 2004
PUBLIC LECTURE: "Digital Personhood"
by Joseph Dumit
Joseph Dumit is associate professor of Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz (History of Consciousness, 1995). He is the author of Picturing Personhood: Brain Scans and Biomedical Identity (Princeton University Press, 2004). He also co-edited Cyborgs & Citadels: Anthropological Interventions in Emerging Sciences and Technologies with Gary Lee Downy (1997), and Cyborg Babies: From Techno-Sex to Techno-Tots with Robbie Davis-Flowd (1998). He is the associate editor of the journal Culture, Medicine & Psychiatry. He is currently completing a manuscript on pharmaceutical facts and marketing called Drugs for Life.
Read more at the More Information page for Events.

Friday, November 12, 2004
FPH Faculty Staff Lounge
Faculty Seminar: "Is it Me or My Brain?"
by Joseph Dumit
Participation by invitation

November 17, 2004
Franklin Patterson Hall, Faculty/Staff Lounge
Faculty Forum: "Music: Culture, Brain, and Evolution"
PANEL MEMBERS:
Rebecca Miller: Music In/As Culture
Lee Spector: An Evolutionary Perspective on Music
Neil Stillings: Music and Brain: How Each Shapes the Other
Commentators:
Christoph Cox and Dan Warner
All students and faculty members are invited to join the discussion
Christoph Cox, Becky Miller, and Dan Warner are faculty members in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies. Lee Spector and Neil Stillings are faculty members in the School of Cognitive Science.

Monday, November 29, 2004
Performance and Lecture: "Are My Lips on Straight? Gender, Performance, and Sexuality"
by Esme Rodriguez
Teresa Kupin/Esme Rodriguez, a visual and performance artist, has lived in Minneapolis for four years. She is a Ph.D. candidate and undergraduate instructor at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, and strives to bridge the innumerable gaps between traditional academics and the community.

Tuesday, November 30, 2004, 4:00
Brain Bag Discussion: "Gender Revisited"
Discussion and Critiques of Rodriguez event Nov. 29.

MOVIE SERIES - CBD Presents!

Oct. 6, 2004 "The Manchurian Candidate"
DISCUSSION led by:
Joanna Morris Florack, assistant professor of cognitive science
Penina Glazer, professor of history

Oct. 19, 2004 "Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control"
DISCUSSION led by:
Lee Spector, professor of computer science
Falguni Sheth, visiting assistant professor of philosophy and political theory

Nov. 8, 2004 "Bladerunner"
Informal discussion among faculty and students will follow this classic in mind, brain, and culture manipulation.

October 9, 2004
Open Lecture: "Gaia and the Evolution of Machines"
by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan

October 22, 2003
"Brain Bag" Lunch: Monthly Informal Meeting for Students and Faculty
Brief overviews of a wide range of faculty interests; discussions on funding strategies for students and faculty; upcoming events; new cross-school courses; and future possibilities

October 31 2003
"Brain Bag" Lunch:
How can Hampshire's Culture, Brain, and Development Program work for you?
Hear from the CBD Steering Committee, in conversation with Joanna Florack (CS), Dan Warner (HACU), Lynn Miller (NS) and Michelle Bigenho (SS)

November 3, 2003
Lecture: "Culture/Biology and Social Movements"
by Chaia Heller

November 7, 2003
Lecture: "The Evolution of Food Choice: Where the Gut Meets the Brain"
by George Armelagos

December 5, 2003
Lecture: "Moments of Truth: Genetic Disease in American Culture"
by M. Susan Lindee