ACADEMIC SYMPOSIA

ART & THE BRAIN
Sept. 9, 2006 Session Information:
Location & RegistrationScheduleSpeakersAbstracts
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ART & THE BRAIN
April 17-18, 2007 Session Information:

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THE PHILLIPS
FIRST BOOK PRIZE

CONVERSATIONS WITH ARTISTS

Art & The Brain

September 9, 2006 Session
Speaker Information

Moderator:

PRADEEP DHILLON

Pradeep Dhillon is an Associate Professor of Philosophy of Education and Linguistics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research straddles philosophy of language (both Analytic and Continental), philosophy of mind, aesthetics, and international education. She has published two books and several papers in philosophy of education, more recently in neuroscience and aesthetics. Currently, she is completing the manuscript, Kant: Educating Judgment for Continuum Press and has a book on aesthetics and semantics under contract with MIT Press. She is Editor for the Journal for Aesthetic Education. Dr. Dhillon received her Ph.D from Stanford University in 1991.



Speakers:



SEMIR ZEKI

Semir Zeki graduated from University College, London in 1964 and earned his Ph.D. in anatomy there in 1967. He joined the College's teaching staff in 1969 and has been a professor of neurobiology since 1981. He specializes in studying the organization of the primate visual brain and, more recently, in studying the relationship between brain activity and artistic appreciation and creativity. He is the author of A Vision of the Brain (1993), Inner Vision: an exploration of art and the brain (1999), La Quete de l'essentiel (with Balthus, Count Klossowski de Rola), (1995).

Dr. Zeki's honors include the Minerva Foundation Prize 1985 (California, USA), Rank Prize in Opto-Electronics (1992), Prix Science pour l'Art 1991(Paris), Zotterman Prize 1993 (Swedish Physiological Society), Betty and David Koetser Prize 1997 (Zurich), Electronic Imaging Award 2001 (International Society for Optical Engineering), and the King Faisal International Prize in Science 2004 (King Faisal Foundation), among others.

Dr. Zeki was a member of the National Science Council of France (1998-2002), and is a trustee of the Minerva Foundation, Berkeley, California (1995 - ), and a member of the Committee of Honour, Paris Decorative and Fine Arts Society (1993- ).



DANIEL LEVITIN

Daniel Levitin is Associate Professor of Psychology at McGill University, where he holds the Bell Chair in the Psychology of Electronic Communication and the FQRNT Strategic Chair in Psychology. He is an Associate member of the Department of Music Theory, Program in Sound Recording, Program in Music Technology, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, and Educational Counseling Psychology at McGill.

In 2000, Levitin helped to found McGill University's Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology. He currently directs the McGill Laboratory for the Study of Music Cognition, Perception and Expertise.

Dr. Levitin earned his B.A. from Stanford University in cognitive psychology (with honors and a minor in music), his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from the University of Oregon (with a Ph.D. minor in Music Technology). He has also studied at M.I.T., UC Berkeley, and the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

Dr. Levitin served as Vice President of Artists & Repertoire at 415/Columbia Records from 1984 - 1988, as President in 1989. After 415 was sold to Sony Music, Levitin ran a successful production and consulting company whose clients included every major American record label and several film companies. He worked on records for Steely Dan, The Grateful Dead, Santana, Chris Isaak, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Wonder.

From 1996 - 1998 he worked at Interval Research Corporation, where he developed new musical instrument controllers currently in use by Laurie Anderson and Michael Brook. In 1999, Levitin helped to form one of the first internet music distribution companies, MoodLogic, which sold to the AMG group in May 2006.

Dr. Levitin has published 35 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and over 300 articles about music and music technology in commercial and trade magazines including Billboard, Electronic Musician, Mix, and Grammy. For his technical and marketing contributions to the recording industry, Levitin has been awarded 12 gold or platinum records (representing over 30 million records and CD sold), and two of his projects received Oscar nominations. He is the author of "This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession" (Dutton/Penguin, 2006).



ERIC SAIDEL

Eric Saidel is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy department at George Washington University. He is interested in understanding the nature of the mind, and the role mental content plays in the production of human behavior. His approach to these issues centers on the evolution of the mind, with special focus on the comparative study of humans and other animals.



MARGARET LIVINGSTONE

Margaret Livingstone is a Professor of Neurobiology in the Harvard Medical School, and has been on faculty since 1984. Her research focuses on how cells in the visual system process information, with further applications for explaining aspects of art. Specific focuses include the role of peripheral vision in viewing paintings and poor depth perception as a potential asset for painters rendering three dimensions onto a two-dimensional plane. Dr. Livingstone is the author of the book Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing (Harry N. Abrams, 2002) and the articles "Was Rembrandt Stereoblind?" (New England Journal of Medicine, 2004), and "Is it warm? Is it real? Or just low spatial frequency?"(Science, 2001).



MARK ROLLINS

Mark Rollins is chair of the Department of Philosophy at Washington University in St. Louis. He holds a joint appointment there as Professor of Philosophy and in the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology Program. He is the author of 'Mental Imagery: On the Limits of Cognitive Science' (Yale UP) and the forthcoming 'The Strategic Eye: Perceptual Strategies and Pictorial Art' (MIT Press), as well as editor of 'Danto and His Critics' (Blackwell). He has published a number of articles on issues at the intersection of cognitive science and art in philosophical journals such as 'The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism,' 'Philosophical Psychology,' and 'Philosophy of Science.' With support from the Kemper Foundation, he developed and regularly teaches a course called 'Art and the Mind-Brain.'



VITTORIO GALLO

Vittorio Gallo is presently the Director of the Center for Neuroscience Research at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC and the Associate Director of the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Children's. He holds an endowed Chair in Neuroscience, the Wolf-Pack Chair, in Neuroscience. Dr. Gallo is also Professor of Pediatrics and Pharmacology at the George Washington University School of Medicine.

Dr. Gallo obtained his PhD in Biochemistry and Neurobiology at the University of Rome, Italy. In 1989, he became Visiting Scientist and NATO Fellow in the laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, NICHD, NIH - and then in 1992 Chief, Section on Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurophysiology, NICHD, where he became a tenured investigator from 1995 to 2001.

Research in Dr. Gallo's Center focuses on brain development and developmental disabilities. His research team works on the early postnatal development of the three major types of cells of the central nervous system, neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes.