Join the WashU Chicago Network and the William Greenleaf Eliot Society for the Chicago Seminar Series featuring Professor Zacks, professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences and professor of Radiology. Following dinner, Professor Zacks will draw on the history of cinema and the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to explain what happens in your head when you sit down in the theatre and the lights go out.
How is it that a patch of flickering light on a wall can produce experiences that engage our imaginations and can feel totally real? From the vertigo of a skydive to the emotional charge of an unexpected victory or defeat, movies give us some of our most vivid experiences and lasting memories. They reshape our emotions and world views—but why? Some of the questions he will take on: How can mere images make us flinch, laugh, cry, tap our toes? What’s the difference between what happened in a movie and what happened in real life—and can we always tell the difference? How do our brains process film editing? Whether you are a fan of films, of neuroscience, or both, some of the answers will surprise you!
Professor Jeffrey Zacks Biography
Jeffrey M. Zacks serves as associate chair in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences as well as a professor in the Department of Radiology within Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis. He earned his bachelor’s degree in cognitive science from Yale University and his doctorate in cognitive psychology from Stanford University. His research has been funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
Professor Zacks is the recipient of scientific awards from the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Foundation, and he is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Psychological Science, the Midwest Psychological Association, and the Society of Experimental Psychologists. Professor Zacks is the author of two books, Flicker: Your Brain on Movies and Event Cognition, and co-editor of Understanding Events and Representations in Mind and World. He has published more than 80 journal articles and has written for Salon, Aeon and The New York Times.