Neuroscience

The amphitheater and stage at Baruch College glowed blood red. Space age, frenetic pop music percolated in the background. The tone was set for World Science Festival’s panel on “Brutality and the Brain.” A sold-out, attentive audience came to learn about humans and our propensity toward violence. Is violence hard-wired in our brains? What is the psychology behind violence? Why are we drawn to violence in entertainment? These and other questions were addressed by a very brainy panel. Here are some highlights.

Professor Catherine Malabou graduated from the Ecole Normale Superieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines (Fontenay-Saint-Cloud). Her agregation and doctorate were obtained, under the supervision of Jacques Derridaand Jean-Luc Marion, from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.