UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Arts & Design Research Incubator (ADRI) at Penn State will kick off its monthly series, “Mechanisms of Mind,” in which speakers representing the arts, sciences and humanities discuss the cross-disciplinary connections between body and mind, at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22, in 16 Borland. The series is moderated by Paula Droege, Penn State senior lecturer in philosophy.
Schedule of Events:
Friday, Sept. 22, 3:30-5 p.m.
"Plasticity is Life"
Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor, professor of English and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies
Jennifer Wagner Lawlor specializes in utopian and speculative literature — with a focus on feminist utopianism. Her publications deal primarily with contemporary women’s literature — though she began her career teaching and writing about 19th-century British literature. Her most recent book, "Postmodern Utopias and Feminist Fictions," appeared in August 2013 from Cambridge University Press. Her current research looks at the intersection of literature, philosophy and the environment, particularly the literature of climate change. She is also working on a project on the concept of plasticity, in the context of contemporary studies of cognition, and in the more literal context of plastics in our environment.
Wednesday, Oct. 11, 3:30-5 p.m.
"Collective Intelligence as a Characteristic of Small Groups"
Christopher Chabris, Psychology Department, Union College
Christopher Chabris is professor at Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania, associate professor of Psychology at Union College in New York, and visiting fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, France. He received his doctorate in psychology and A.B. in computer science from Harvard University. His research focuses on attention, intelligence (individual, collective and social), behavior genetics, and decision-making. His work has been published in leading journals including Science, Nature, PNAS, Psychological Science, Perception, and Cognitive Science. Chabris is also co-author of the book "The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us," which has been published in 19 languages.
Friday, Nov. 3, noon-1 p.m.
"Expression, Communication and Origins of Meaning: A Philosophical Perspective"
Location: 301D Life Sciences Building
Dorit Bar-On, Philosophy Department, University of Connecticut
Dorit Bar-On is a professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut and director of the Expression, Communication, and the Origins of Meaning (ECOM) Research Group. Her research focuses on philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, epistemology, and metaethics. Bar-On earned her bachelor’s degree at Tel Aviv University in philosophy and linguistics before earning her Master of Arts and doctorate in philosophy at UCLA for her dissertation, "Indeterminacy of Translation: Theory and Practice." Bar-On has also written Hebrew translations of poetry, fiction and philosophy, including three anthologies in modern philosophy; writings by Iris Murdoch, Kurt Vonnegut, Dos Passos, Dorothy Richardson, E. E. Cummings, Robert Louis Stevenson and Walter Scott; and, in collaboration with Marcia Falk, a collection of poems by Zelda Schneerson Mishkovsky and Falk’s "The Book of Blessings."
ADRI provides support for high-impact arts and design research projects. Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at the Arts & Design Research Incubator, 16 Borland. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit the ADRI website.
Connect with ADRI at www.facebook.com/PennStateADRI.