February 19, 2020
Media Contact:
Heather Thorstensen
Manager of Communications
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society
hthorstensen@sigmaxi.org or (919) 549-4691 ext. 216
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC— Sigma Xi is pleased to announce that Anjan Chatterjee, the founding director of the Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, will be a keynote speaker at its Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference. The conference takes place November 5–8 at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia.
This conference will showcase emerging trends and challenges across a broad spectrum of science–art collaborations and explore how interdisciplinarity can advance scientific discoveries.
Neuroaesthetics is a relatively new field that examines the biological bases for aesthetic experiences. The Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics at the University of Pennsylvania explores how our brains respond automatically to beauty and how that affects our attitudes, biases, and behavior; how our built environments affect our sense of well-being; and how humans engage with the arts.
As a professor of neurology, psychology, and architecture, and the past chair of Neurology at Pennsylvania Hospital, Chatterjee’s research addresses questions about neuroaesthetics, spatial cognition and language, and neuroethics. His clinical practice focuses on patients with cognitive disorders and he is the author of The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art.
At the conference, Chatterjee’s keynote session will be titled, “The Aesthetic Brain: On Beauty, Buildings, and Art.”
Registration is open for the conference, and early bird pricing is available through July 14: www.sigmaxi.org/amsrc20.