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In Conversation with Dani S. Bassett and Perry Zurn on Curious Minds (In-Person)

Date / Time

  • February 15, 2023
    6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Location

2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103, United States

In Conversation With is sponsored by Robert K. Urquhart

Registration

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Description

Curiosity, say Perry Zurn and Dani Bassett, is a practice of connection: it connects ideas into networks of knowledge, and it connects knowers themselves, both to the knowledge they seek and to each other. Traipsing across literatures of antiquity and medieval science, Victorian poetry and nature essays, as well as work by writers from a variety of marginalized communities, they trace a multitudinous curiosity. The book performs the very curiosity that it describes, inviting readers to participate—to be curious with the book and not simply about it. 

About the Authors 

Dani S. Bassett is the J. Peter Skirkanich Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, with appointments in the Departments of Bioengineering, Electrical & Systems Engineering, Physics & Astronomy, Neurology, and Psychiatry. They received a B.S. in physics from Penn State University and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Cambridge. They have received multiple prestigious awards, including a MacArthur Fellow Genius Grant in 2014.  

Perry Zurn is Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University, and affiliate faculty in the Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies. He researches primarily in political philosophy, critical theory, and transgender studies, and collaborates in psychology and network neuroscience.  He received an M.A. in Philosophy at Miami University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from DePaul University. Zurn’s work has been featured in dozens of podcast, radio, and television shows, as well as in mainstream outlets such as Harvard Books, Talks at Google, and The Guardian.  

Our interlocutor for the evening will be Lena Adams Kim. Lena Adams Kim is a mindfulness expert and organizational consultant who uses holistic approach teaching secular mindfulness, combining research in organizational behavior, psychology and neuroscience. Ms. Kim is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. Her doctoral research focused on underserved communities’ use of mindfulness and story-telling to protect the environment.

See all upcoming tours here. Space is limited and advance registration is strongly recommended.