In the last several years, the Himalayan-focused Rubin Museum in New York City has offered many opportunities to listen to artists and scientists discuss themes central to Buddhist culture. Last winter and spring it hosted the Brainwave series (we’ve covered several of these programs on our blog) and this fall the Museum will host a similar series.
From September through December, the Museum, a Brain Awareness Week partner, will hold events that explore the notion of happiness. Similar to Brainwave, many talks will pair an artist with a scientist for an enlightening conversation. Tim McHenry, director of public programs at the Museum explains:
"Central to Buddhist belief is the alleviation of suffering—with the end result a form of happiness. Central to our founding fathers’ belief was the inalienable right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. But do these two expressions of Enlightened thought mean the same thing? That’s for us to find out at our new series of on-stage conversations between personalities and experts."
While not all talks have a neuroscience theme, here are a few pairings that sound interesting:- Actress Elaine Stritch and Professor of Psychiatry Murali Doraiswamy, Sunday, September 23rd at 6 pm.
- Performance artist Laurie Anderson and Professor of Psychiatry Daniel Gilbert, Saturday, September 29th at 6 pm.
- Actor Michael C. Hall and psychologist Kevin Dutton, Wednesday, October 24th at 7 pm.
- Actress Julianne Moore and developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik, Wednesday, November 7th at 7 pm.
I will admit that I’m very curious to hear how the discussion between Michael C. Hall (Dexter!) and Daniel Gilbert, who has written about psychopaths, relates back to happiness…In the meantime, I’m looking forward to a few laughs with Stritch and Doraiswamy this weekend.
--Ann L. Whitman
