Harvard Professor Steven Pinker to speak at Stevens, Dec. 12

HOBOKEN, N.J. — The Center for Science Writings at Stevens Institute of Technology will host a talk by Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. Pinker, one of the world's most renowned psychologists, will discuss his new book, The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, on December 12, 2007, 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., in The Babbio Center, Room 122, located at 6th and River Streets on the Stevens campus in Hoboken, N.J. This event is free and open to the public.

In his new book, Pinker addresses the complex links between semantics and understanding. He holds a bachelor's degree in Experimental Psychology from McGill University and a doctorate from Harvard. Much of his initial research was in visual cognition, the ability to imagine shapes, recognize faces and objects and direct attention within the visual field. But beginning in graduate school, he cultivated an interest in language, particularly language development in children. He has also studied language development in twins and the neuroimaging of language processes in the brain, and has recently begun research innuendo and other forms of indirect speech.

Delving into the realms of language and human cognition, Pinker has authored seven books, including the bestsellers How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate and The Language Instinct. He is also a Humanist Laureate, the 2006 Humanist of the Year and the recipient of four honorary doctorates.

For more information, please visit the Center for Science Writings website at www.stevens.edu/csw/cgi-bin/index.php.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,040 undergraduate and 3,085 graduate students, and a worldwide online enrollment of 2,250, with a full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty of 140 and more than 200 full-time special faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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