The 2023-24 Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture: "Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters"

Prof. Steven Pinker; Photo credit: Rose Lincoln / Harvard University

Steven Pinker, Award-winning Author and Experimental Psychologist, Harvard University

Thursday, May 30, 2024
5:00 PM

 

ABOUT THE SPEAKER 

Steven Pinker is an experimental psychologist who conducts research in visual cognition, psycholinguistics, and social relations. He grew up in Montreal and earned his BA from McGill and his PhD from Harvard. Currently Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard, he has also taught at Stanford and MIT. He has won numerous prizes for his research, his teaching, and his books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, and Enlightenment Now. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, a Humanist of the Year, a recipient of nine honorary doctorates, and one of Foreign Policy’s “World’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals” and Time’s “100 Most Influential People in the World Today.” He was Chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, and writes frequently for The New York Times, The Guardian, and other publications. His twelfth book, published in 2021, is called Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Kal Raustiala holds the Promise Institute Chair in Comparative and International Law at UCLA Law School and is a Professor at the UCLA International Institute, where he teaches in the Program on Global Studies. Since 2007 he has served as Director of the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations. From 2012-2015 he was UCLA’s Associate Vice Provost for International Studies and Faculty Director of the International Education Office. Professor Raustiala's research focuses on international law, international relations, and intellectual property. His most recent book The Absolutely Indispensable Man: Ralph Bunche, the United Nations, and the Fight to End Empire is a biography of the late UN diplomat, civil rights figure, and UCLA alum for Oxford University Press.

PARKING AND DIRECTIONS

Parking will be available in Parking Lot 3-North, which is at the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Hilgard Avenue. The parking structure has two buildings. Please pull into the northern structure that is adjacent to Sunset Blvd., where you will find pay-by-space visitor parking.

Guests have two options for purchasing parking. Please park in the respective parking locations, or your car may be ticketed. 

Using a pay station on the day of

Follow the signs in the parking lot to park your car in a pay-by-space location. Once parked, go to the nearest parking pay station (you find them next to pedestrian garage exits). Enter your license plate number in the machine. Pay by exact cash or credit card. Bring both, just in case. Pay stations only accept $1, $5, and $10 bills and DO NOT give change in the form of cash or credit. Parking is $3 per hour and $15 per day. Parking must purchased the day of. 

Purchasing parking online in advance

Only full-day parking passes can be purchased online. Day passes are $15, but can be purchased in advance here. Search "Daniel Pearl" and enter your vehicle information. Follow the signs in the parking lot to park your car in a yellow permit parking location.

You may park in any location if you require accessible parking and have a placard.

Walking Directions from Parking Structure 3-North to UCLA School of Law

 GUIDELINES FOR ALL GUESTS

• Arrive early, registration check-in begins at 4:15 PM and doors open at 4:30 PM.
• There will be a stand-by line on the day of the event.
• Visitor parking spaces are available (cash or credit card) in Lot 3-North. If you require accessible parking and have a placard, spaces are available in Lot 3-North. Please see the UCLA Visitor Parking website for rates.
• No bulky video equipment or flash photography permitted.
• No food or beverages permitted inside UCLA Law School, Room 1347 
• Details for this event are subject to change.
• Please check our website for last minute details prior to the event.
• Please note that your event registration does not guarantee you a seat. Come early, seats are given out in order of arrivals. 

ABOUT THE DANIEL PEARL MEMORIAL LECTURE SERIES

In sponsoring the Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture Series, the Burkle Center for International Relations celebrates the memory of Daniel Pearl as a prominent journalist who dedicated his life to bringing joy and understanding to the world. Past presenters have included David Remnick of The New Yorker, Leon Wieseltier of The New Republic, Christopher Hitchens, CNN's Anderson Cooper, David Brooks and Thomas Friedman of The New York Times, ABC’s Ted Koppel, CBS’s Jeff Greenfield, Daniel Schorr of NPR, CNN's Larry King, former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Ambassador Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bret Stephens, CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria, author and journalist Bob Woodward, CNN's Jake Tapper, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy and most recently, Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and Russian pro-democracy leader. 

To learn more and support this lecture series, visit: 

https://www.international.ucla.edu/burkle/series/136027

Sponsor(s): Burkle Center for International Relations

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