Lake Hypatia: Neuroanthropology of Speaking in Tongues and Internet Gaming

Dr. Christopher D. Lynn is a biological anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alabama. His dissertation work at SUNY-Albany focused on the relationship between glossolalia and biological stress among New York Apostolic Pentecostals. Currently Dr. Lynn teaches courses including "Introduction to Physical Anthropology," "Anthropology of Sex," "Non-Human Primates," "Evolution for Everyone," and "Human Adaptability." He is director of the Human Behavioral Ecology Research Group (HBERG). HBERG leverages undergraduate, graduate, and faculty resources on psychobiocultural research projects. Dr. Lynn is co-director of the Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) Program which offers an interdisciplinary minor in Evolutionary Studies. EvoS is part of a worldwide consortium of colleges and universities dedicated to facilitating the development of EvoS programs.

Dr. Lynn's talk is titled "Transcendental Medication: Consilience through the Neuroanthropology of Speaking in Tongues and Internet Gaming"

The term consilience was revived by biologist E. O. Wilson in his 1998 book Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge as the melding of knowledge from different fields of study. Particularly, Wilson emphasizes the notion that knowledge from the sciences and humanities can be examined together in an interdisciplinary fashion. This allows so-called cultural phenomena like speaking in tongues and internet gaming to be studied through the scientific method. Wilson's view of consilience is also the basis for the interdisciplinary Evolutionary Studies program and the University of Alabama and other participating institutions. Dr. Lynn's talk will focus on the work that he and his colleagues have done in this area. Dr. Lynn notes that this material, though academic in nature, can easily be made accessible to listeners of nearly any educational level.

Schedule:

11 am social hour

12 noon potluck lunch

1 pm program