Metaphors and Models: The Neuroscience of Comparison

This event explores the conceptual force of metaphors in neuroscience. How do metaphors shape how we think and communicate? How are they represented in the brain? To answer these questions, this event engages with the everyday persistence of these rhetorical tools by examining scientific studies of metaphor use and metaphors in scientific discourse. Featuring perspectives from neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, and philosophy, our speakers probe the distinction between metaphors and models that emerge from thinking and reasoning. These models are further taken up in different social and political circumstances and are used to describe a range of phenomenon from mental health to climate change that articulate and obscure our efforts to make sense of the world.

Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required. Please click "Register" above

Image: Matteo Farinella, 2017

Speakers:

Dedre Genter, Alice Gabrielle Twight Professor of Psychology and Co-Director, Spatial Intelligence and Learning Center, Northwestern University

Stephen J. Flusberg, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Purchase College, SUNY

Alexander Rapp, Faculty Member in the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tuebingen

Respondent:

Stephen Casper, Associate Professor of History, Clarkson University

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Science and Society and the Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience program as part of the Seminars in Society and Neuroscience series.

FAQs

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?

The event is located on the Columbia University campus, within walking distance from the 1, A ,B, C, D subway lines.

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Please send an email to presidentialscholars@columbia.edu

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

No, but you may be asked your name in order to check in at the front desk.