One Day University: Six Professors in Just One Morning
9:30 AM – 10:35 AM
Music and the Brain
Aniruddh Patel / Tufts University
Charles Darwin regarded music as an evolutionary mystery. It is universal and ancient in human culture, but serves no obvious biological function. Recent decades have witnessed a rise of empirical research on the biological foundations of music, leading to findings which help illuminate music’s evolutionary origins and its significance in human life.
In this lecture, Professor Aniruddh Patel of Tufts University and author of Music, Language, and the Brain will discuss a wide variety of research studies bearing on the evolution and biological power of music. These will include studies of how music is processed by other species, and studies of how active engagement with music enhances brain function in children and adults, including both neurologically normal individuals and those with brain disorders.
9:30 AM – 10:35 AM
Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness
Catherine Sanderson / Amherst College
Happiness has been in the news quite a bit lately. The UN released a “Happiness Report” rating nearly 200 countries, which found that the world’s happiest people live in Northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands). The US ranked 11th. The report’s conclusion affirmatively states that happiness has predictable causes and is correlated specifically to various measures that governments can regulate and encourage. And there’s more. A new AARP study looks at how Americans feel – and what factors contribute to their sense of contentment. It concludes that nearly 50% of us are “somewhat happy” and another 19% are “very happy.”
What role do money, IQ, marriage, friends, children, weather, and religion play in making us feel happier? Is happiness stable over time? How can happiness be increased? Professor Sanderson will describe cutting-edge research from the field of positive psychology on the factors that do (and do not) predict happiness, and provide practical (and relatively easy!) ways to increase your own psychological well-being.
10:50 AM – 11:55 AM
A Jewish Founding Father? Alexander Hamilton’s Hidden Life
Andrew Porwancher / University of Oklahoma
Thousands of miles from the Old World, on a sun-kissed island in the West Indies, a young boy named Alexander Hamilton began a most unlikely journey in the 1750s. His meteoric rise from Caribbean obscurity to American founder has long captivated historians and, more recently, Broadway audiences. Yet one crucial aspect of Hamilton’s life has remained submerged for centuries: the weight of the evidence suggests that he was in fact Jewish.
Drawing on untapped sources in the West Indies, Professor Porwancher make the case for Hamilton’s Jewish ancestry and explore his ongoing relationships with Jews throughout his lifetime. Although he cast off any Jewish identity in his adulthood in the United States, Hamilton never forgot his origins. He emerged as a singular champion of American Jewry against the forces of anti-Semitism. Hamilton fought for Jewish rights in the courts, collaborated with Jewish merchants, and secured a position for the first Jew on the board of an American college.
10:50 AM – 11:55 AM
The Renaissance: How and Why it Began, How and Why it Ended
Kenneth Bartlett / University of Toronto
When you think of the Italian Renaissance, chances are you think of what it gave us. The extraordinary sculptures of Michelangelo, the incomparable paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, and so much more. But why was there such an artistic, cultural and intellectual explosion in Italy at the start of the 14th century? Why did it occur there and not another part of Europe, and why did it happen in certain Italian city-states, such as Florence?
And ultimately, why did it fail in the middle of the 16th century? University of Toronto Professor Kenneth Bartlett offers you the opportunity to appreciate the results of the Italian Renaissance and to probe its origins. You will gain an understanding of the underlying social, political, and economic forces that made such exceptional art and culture possible.
12:10 PM – 1:15 PM
The Shifting Lens of History: How We Reimagine the Past
Stephanie Yuhl / College of the Holy Cross
From the kiss in Times Square to “Rosie the Riveter” to “Saving Private Ryan,” Americans tend to cherish their memories of WWII as “the best war ever.” Yet the Vietnam War remains controversial and brings up an entirely different set of images – from anti-war protests to Agent Orange to the film, “Born on the Fourth of July.” What helps explain these radically different understandings of two wars only twenty years apart? Of course, things get even more interesting when we take into consideration the historical memories of the other nations involved in these conflicts.
In this course, we will examine how different societies remember these wars and what those memories might tell us about national hopes and values, about generational change, and even about decisions regarding the military. Animating this presentation is the notion that history is different from the past – it is the often contested way that the past is remembered in the present.
12:10 PM – 1:15 PM
Creativity, Genius, and the Brain
Heather Berlin / Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiWhat does originality and invention look like in the brain? A full understanding of the creative process requires an exploration of unconscious processes, as well the intentional and deliberative effort that goes into creative work. A great deal of complex cognitive processing occurs at the unconscious level and affects how humans behave, think and feel. Scientists are now beginning to understand how this occurs at the neural level. In this class, Professor Berlin will present new research examining the neural basis of spontaneous creativity (i.e., improvisation), which illuminates aspects of the creative process that are governed by conscious vs. unconscious processes, and what an artists’ brain can teach us about the creative “flow state.”
She will also introduce research that explores our understanding of genius. What can we learn from Einstein’s brain? Is there a relationship between madness and genius? Why are playfulness, creativity, and impulsivity greater during childhood than at other stages of development, and how does the brain make use of stimuli processed outside of awareness to create works of genius? By understanding how unconscious neural processes contribute to both our self-destructive habits and our highest mental faculties of creativity, we can ultimately learn to live more fulfilled lives, placing our instincts in service of our goals rather than vice versa.
$159
Loews AMC – Lincoln Square
1998 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
When: Sat., Oct. 27, 2018 at 9:30 am - 1:15 pm
9:30 AM – 10:35 AM
Music and the Brain
Aniruddh Patel / Tufts University
Charles Darwin regarded music as an evolutionary mystery. It is universal and ancient in human culture, but serves no obvious biological function. Recent decades have witnessed a rise of empirical research on the biological foundations of music, leading to findings which help illuminate music’s evolutionary origins and its significance in human life.
In this lecture, Professor Aniruddh Patel of Tufts University and author of Music, Language, and the Brain will discuss a wide variety of research studies bearing on the evolution and biological power of music. These will include studies of how music is processed by other species, and studies of how active engagement with music enhances brain function in children and adults, including both neurologically normal individuals and those with brain disorders.
9:30 AM – 10:35 AM
Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness
Catherine Sanderson / Amherst College
Happiness has been in the news quite a bit lately. The UN released a “Happiness Report” rating nearly 200 countries, which found that the world’s happiest people live in Northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands). The US ranked 11th. The report’s conclusion affirmatively states that happiness has predictable causes and is correlated specifically to various measures that governments can regulate and encourage. And there’s more. A new AARP study looks at how Americans feel – and what factors contribute to their sense of contentment. It concludes that nearly 50% of us are “somewhat happy” and another 19% are “very happy.”
What role do money, IQ, marriage, friends, children, weather, and religion play in making us feel happier? Is happiness stable over time? How can happiness be increased? Professor Sanderson will describe cutting-edge research from the field of positive psychology on the factors that do (and do not) predict happiness, and provide practical (and relatively easy!) ways to increase your own psychological well-being.
10:50 AM – 11:55 AM
A Jewish Founding Father? Alexander Hamilton’s Hidden Life
Andrew Porwancher / University of Oklahoma
Thousands of miles from the Old World, on a sun-kissed island in the West Indies, a young boy named Alexander Hamilton began a most unlikely journey in the 1750s. His meteoric rise from Caribbean obscurity to American founder has long captivated historians and, more recently, Broadway audiences. Yet one crucial aspect of Hamilton’s life has remained submerged for centuries: the weight of the evidence suggests that he was in fact Jewish.
Drawing on untapped sources in the West Indies, Professor Porwancher make the case for Hamilton’s Jewish ancestry and explore his ongoing relationships with Jews throughout his lifetime. Although he cast off any Jewish identity in his adulthood in the United States, Hamilton never forgot his origins. He emerged as a singular champion of American Jewry against the forces of anti-Semitism. Hamilton fought for Jewish rights in the courts, collaborated with Jewish merchants, and secured a position for the first Jew on the board of an American college.
10:50 AM – 11:55 AM
The Renaissance: How and Why it Began, How and Why it Ended
Kenneth Bartlett / University of Toronto
When you think of the Italian Renaissance, chances are you think of what it gave us. The extraordinary sculptures of Michelangelo, the incomparable paintings of Leonardo da Vinci, and so much more. But why was there such an artistic, cultural and intellectual explosion in Italy at the start of the 14th century? Why did it occur there and not another part of Europe, and why did it happen in certain Italian city-states, such as Florence?
And ultimately, why did it fail in the middle of the 16th century? University of Toronto Professor Kenneth Bartlett offers you the opportunity to appreciate the results of the Italian Renaissance and to probe its origins. You will gain an understanding of the underlying social, political, and economic forces that made such exceptional art and culture possible.
12:10 PM – 1:15 PM
The Shifting Lens of History: How We Reimagine the Past
Stephanie Yuhl / College of the Holy Cross
From the kiss in Times Square to “Rosie the Riveter” to “Saving Private Ryan,” Americans tend to cherish their memories of WWII as “the best war ever.” Yet the Vietnam War remains controversial and brings up an entirely different set of images – from anti-war protests to Agent Orange to the film, “Born on the Fourth of July.” What helps explain these radically different understandings of two wars only twenty years apart? Of course, things get even more interesting when we take into consideration the historical memories of the other nations involved in these conflicts.
In this course, we will examine how different societies remember these wars and what those memories might tell us about national hopes and values, about generational change, and even about decisions regarding the military. Animating this presentation is the notion that history is different from the past – it is the often contested way that the past is remembered in the present.
12:10 PM – 1:15 PM
Creativity, Genius, and the Brain
Heather Berlin / Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiWhat does originality and invention look like in the brain? A full understanding of the creative process requires an exploration of unconscious processes, as well the intentional and deliberative effort that goes into creative work. A great deal of complex cognitive processing occurs at the unconscious level and affects how humans behave, think and feel. Scientists are now beginning to understand how this occurs at the neural level. In this class, Professor Berlin will present new research examining the neural basis of spontaneous creativity (i.e., improvisation), which illuminates aspects of the creative process that are governed by conscious vs. unconscious processes, and what an artists’ brain can teach us about the creative “flow state.”
She will also introduce research that explores our understanding of genius. What can we learn from Einstein’s brain? Is there a relationship between madness and genius? Why are playfulness, creativity, and impulsivity greater during childhood than at other stages of development, and how does the brain make use of stimuli processed outside of awareness to create works of genius? By understanding how unconscious neural processes contribute to both our self-destructive habits and our highest mental faculties of creativity, we can ultimately learn to live more fulfilled lives, placing our instincts in service of our goals rather than vice versa.
$159
Loews AMC – Lincoln Square
1998 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
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