Clarkson University Assistant Professor of the History of Science Stephen T. Casper recently gave an invited lecture at the Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, Germany.

His lecture was part of an international three-day conference, "Neuro-Reality-Check: Scrutinizing the 'Neuro-Turn' in the Humanities and Natural Sciences."

Invited speakers came from the University of Edinburgh; Tel Aviv University; MPI-CBS, Leipzig; University of Nottingham; University of Warwick; Princeton University; University of California at Berkeley; University of Illinois; University of Wisconsin-Madison; McGill University; and University College London.

During his presentation, "The Naturalizing Instinct: A History of Brain Science and Politics in Postmodernity," Casper discussed recent trends in the way that the neurosciences had begun to exert a wider influence on philosophy, history, ethics, sociology, political science, economics, marketing, law, media, and art and media studies.

He also discussed the historical origins, as well as the cultural and political consequences of this turn toward the neurosciences.

The flyer from the event can be found at http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/workshops/en/Neuro-Reality-Check/mainColu... ragraphs/00/text_files/file/neuroprogramme.pdf

Casper received his bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and neuroscience from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in history of medicine at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London.