ThoughtGallery.org > TPA: Addicted to Don Juan—Misusing Sex Addiction Across Art, Neuroscience and Psychology

TPA: Addicted to Don Juan—Misusing Sex Addiction Across Art, Neuroscience and Psychology

With Carl Fisher, Directed by Mo Zhou

Sexual predators have long attempted to excuse abusive behavior with psychologically based excuses such as “sex addiction”–it’s a narrative that stretches back to Don Giovanni (Don Juan), and is found throughout art of the past centuries–particularly opera. Dr. Carl Erik Fisher (a practicing addiction psychiatrist, Assistant Professor at Columbia University, and former opera singer), directed by Mo Zhou (an accomplished opera director) takes you through the current debates in neuroscience and psychiatry about what qualifies as sex addiction. You’ll discover the strange and twisted history of our struggle to pin down a definition, and how the label “sex addiction” is so often misused by men in positions of power and influence.

The Talks Progress Administration is a mad science experiment on stage – we’re pairing academic lecturers with theater directors to see what they’ll make together. The TPA is combining intellectual entertainment, creative discourse, and interactive storytelling like you’ve never seen before.

What would happen if Bill Nye got cast in Sleep No More, if Jane Goodall sat down for tea with Brecht, or if Stephen Hawking wrote a new Hamilton-inspired rock opera? We don’t know, but we sure as hell can’t wait to find out.

The TPA is a collaboration between The Story Collider and Caveat, and is supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.

Dr. Carl Fisher is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and teaches neuroscience, ethics, and philosophy in Columbia’s Masters in Bioethics program and the Division of Law, Ethics, and Psychiatry. He attended medical school at Columbia University, where he also completed a neuroscience research fellowship in brain stimulation. He spent his college career studying music, and prior to medical school, he briefly sang in a professional opera company.

Mo Zhou is a stage director based in New York. She has worked at as Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, the Merola Opera Program with San Francisco Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown Theater Festival, to name a few. She is 2016/17 New York Theater Workshop2050 Fellow, Time Warner Directing Fellow at Women’s Project, and 2015/17 James Marcus Opera Directing Fellow at Juilliard. Mo received her MFA in Stage Directing from Columbia University, under the tutelage of Anne Bogart.











When: Mon., Feb. 26, 2018 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where: Caveat
21 Clinton St.
212-228-2100
Price: $15
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With Carl Fisher, Directed by Mo Zhou

Sexual predators have long attempted to excuse abusive behavior with psychologically based excuses such as “sex addiction”–it’s a narrative that stretches back to Don Giovanni (Don Juan), and is found throughout art of the past centuries–particularly opera. Dr. Carl Erik Fisher (a practicing addiction psychiatrist, Assistant Professor at Columbia University, and former opera singer), directed by Mo Zhou (an accomplished opera director) takes you through the current debates in neuroscience and psychiatry about what qualifies as sex addiction. You’ll discover the strange and twisted history of our struggle to pin down a definition, and how the label “sex addiction” is so often misused by men in positions of power and influence.

The Talks Progress Administration is a mad science experiment on stage – we’re pairing academic lecturers with theater directors to see what they’ll make together. The TPA is combining intellectual entertainment, creative discourse, and interactive storytelling like you’ve never seen before.

What would happen if Bill Nye got cast in Sleep No More, if Jane Goodall sat down for tea with Brecht, or if Stephen Hawking wrote a new Hamilton-inspired rock opera? We don’t know, but we sure as hell can’t wait to find out.

The TPA is a collaboration between The Story Collider and Caveat, and is supported by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science.

Dr. Carl Fisher is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and teaches neuroscience, ethics, and philosophy in Columbia’s Masters in Bioethics program and the Division of Law, Ethics, and Psychiatry. He attended medical school at Columbia University, where he also completed a neuroscience research fellowship in brain stimulation. He spent his college career studying music, and prior to medical school, he briefly sang in a professional opera company.

Mo Zhou is a stage director based in New York. She has worked at as Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, the Merola Opera Program with San Francisco Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown Theater Festival, to name a few. She is 2016/17 New York Theater Workshop2050 Fellow, Time Warner Directing Fellow at Women’s Project, and 2015/17 James Marcus Opera Directing Fellow at Juilliard. Mo received her MFA in Stage Directing from Columbia University, under the tutelage of Anne Bogart.

Buy tickets/get more info now