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Lake Forest, Ill. - Brain Awareness Week at Lake Forest College is an annual event that includes informational sessions for the College community through forums, teach-ins, and public outreach and formal lectures. This educational community outreach event is the collaborative effort of students and faculty at Lake Forest College studying Brain, Mind, and Behavior.

The public is welcome to attend these events for Brain Awareness Week:

Monday, November 10

4:00 p.m. in Meyer Auditorium, Hotchkiss Hall
“Cultural Neuroscience: Visualizing Culture-Gene Influences on Brain Function”
The opening lecture is presented by Dr. Joan Chiao, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University. Dr. Chiao joined the faculty at Northwestern in 2006 after completing her Ph.D. at Harvard University and her B.S. at Stanford. Using a cultural neuroscience framework, she explores how cultural and biological forces influence human emotion and social interaction. She also examines how factors such as race, age, and gender influence perception, cognition, and emotion. Dr. Chiao is a prolific researcher, with dozens of scholarly papers and conference presentations, and her current research on culture-gene interaction is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Tuesday, November 11

11 am – 1:30 pm, Johnson 215
Brain Anatomy 101
The community is invited for a hand-on exploration of the human brain, including exhibits on the microscopic and anatomical world of the brain, how it has evolved, and how it helps us sense, move, learn, sleep, emote, and think.

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6:30-8:30 pm, Meyer Auditorium
Brain, Mind, and Behavior: A Faculty Forum on Interdisciplinary Neuroscience
Dr. Karen Kirk, Associate Professor of Biology, discusses her personal recovery from Stroke, followed by several Lake Forest College faculty members representing philosophy, biology, physics, and psychology departments who discuss their scholarly interests on neuroscience through a series of short talks.

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Wednesday, November 12

4:15 p.m. in Meyer Auditorium, Hotchkiss Hall (3:45 pm pre-seminar reception)
“Stem Cell & Nanotechnology in the treatment of Neurological diseases”
Presented by Dr. John Kessler, Davee Professor in Stem Cell Biology and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and leading expert on neural stem cells, stroke, and spinal cord injury.

Friday, November 14

7:00 p.m. in McCormick Auditorium
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
Winner of major awards across the globe, this critically acclaimed film directed by Julian Schnabel is based on Jean-Dominique Bauby’s extraordinary memoir, written after he suffered a massive stroke at the age of 42, leaving him paralyzed, with the exception of his left eyelid, so that he could only communicate by blinking. A faculty panel moderated by Dean of Faculty Janet McCracken will precede and follow the movie showing.

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