Renowned Scientist Steven Pinker to Deliver UA’s Blount Initiative Lecture

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.  — Dr. Steven Pinker, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists and a best-selling author, will speak Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Bama Theatre in downtown Tuscaloosa on “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature.”

The lecture is part of The University of Alabama Blount Undergraduate Initiative’s 10^th Anniversary Lecture Series. The Initiative is a privately supported liberal arts program in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

The lecture is free, open to the public and geared toward a general audience.

Pinker, a professor in Harvard University’s psychology department, is an experimental psychologist whose research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has received numerous awards. His seventh book, “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature,” was released in 2007, and he also frequently writes about his research in publications such as the New York Times, Time and The New Republic.

Pinker, who has amassed a popular following with his books and research, made his second guest appearance in February on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” during which he spoke about posting his own genome sequence on the Internet.

“He’s an internationally known scholar of the mind and language acquisition, so I think he’ll appeal to a broad audience,” said Dr. Joseph Hornsby, director of the Blount Initiative.  “He fits in nicely with the curriculum of the Blount program, and we’re excited to have him here.”

In his lecture, Pinker will use examples from everyday speech and pop culture to illustrate how people’s words reflect the thoughts they think, the emotions they feel and the relationships they hold. He will answer such questions as, why do people veil their threats and sexual come-ons in innuendo and euphemism instead of blurting them out? Pinker will be available to sign books following the lecture.

Before joining Harvard’s faculty in 2003, Pinker taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 21 years. The 55-year-old’s many honors include being named in 2004 one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Pinker also is the chair of The American Heritage Dictionary’s usage panel.

The Blount Initiative is sponsoring Pinker’s visit as part of a year-long celebration of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the program. The lecture is made possible, in large part, by the following funds: The Oliver Endowed Support Fund, the Bloom Endowed Undergraduate Initiative Lectureship, the R.C. McMillan Endowed Undergraduate Initiative Lectureship and the Consolidated Pipe and Supply Company Inc. Endowed Lectureship.

The Blount Undergraduate Initiative is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.