Event Details
When:
-
Location:
Online: Zoom
In-Person at WWU
Performing Arts Center
Mainstage
Price:
Free
Registration Required
Brought to you by:
Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Fraser Lecture Series, Psychology Department, The Foundation for WWU & Alumni
Description
Transformative Experiences, including religious conversion, mystical, aesthetic, near-death, and psychedelic experiences, are brief, rare, and unexpected events that can lead to permanent changes in the attitudes, goals, beliefs and habits of the individual that underwent this experience, including loss of fear of death and radical changes in worldview.
Transformative experiences have been reported throughout history and cultures. Their phenomenology includes ecstasy and/or terror, loss of perception of space and time, loss of the external world and the sense of self. They have great therapeutic benefits for a variety of clinical conditions, including depression. The reality of such experiences must be accounted for in any understanding of the mind and the brain.
Please plan to join WWU faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the Bellingham community on campus or virtually for a special lecture by Dr. Koch related to his recent book on the science of consciousness, “Then I Am Myself the World”.
Featuring:
Dr. Christof Koch, Neuroscientist
Christof Koch is a neuroscientist best known for his studies and writings exploring the basis of consciousness, starting with the molecular biologist Francis Crick. Trained as a physicist, Christof was a professor of biology and engineering at the California Institute of Technology and the Chief Scientist and then President of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. He is now Meritorious Investigator at the Allen Institute and the Chief Scientist of the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, with its focus on understanding consciousness, and how this knowledge can benefit humanity. His latest book is Then I Am Myself the world.
Photo credit: Erik Dinnel - Allen Institute
Questions and Accommodations
- Your point of contact for this event is Andrea Swanson. Call (360) 650-2148 or email swansoa4@wwu.edu.
- Advance notice for disability accommodations and special needs is appreciated. Please mention your needs when registering.
- There will be auto-captions for the Zoom webinar.
WWU Visitor Parking after 4:30pm on Weekdays
- Mon-Fri after 4:30pm parking is free only in the south C lots and 12G by Fairhaven College. Please note that parking is not free in these lots from 7:00am-4:30pm.
- Limited paid parking is available after 4:30pm in north lots 6V and 7G.
- More parking details for campus visitors are available online.
Parking at WWU after 4:30pm on Weekdays for Visitors with Disabilities
- Mon-Fri after 4:30pm a WWU permit is not required as long as you display your valid state disability placard. You can park in any available disability space or adjacent space.
- Please note that parking is not free from 7:00am-4:30pm.
- More parking details for campus visitors with disabilities are available online.
The views expressed by our speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Western Washington University.