Episode Description
In this episode we interview , a neuroscientist who studies issues at the intersection of neuroscience and psychology, including how individuals make meaning and feel and act on a sense of agency in their lives. We focus on an exciting term Dr. White recently coined, “dignity neuroscience,” to describe the links between the findings of neuroscience about what conditions promote human development and learning and the human rights principles that international human rights law scholars have identified. We further discuss Dr. White’s view that there is an emerging consilience about the core concept of human dignity and explore how this idea might be converted into policy objectives.
Guest Speaker
Dr. Tara White is an Assistant Professor (Research) and the founding director of the Laboratory of Affective Neuroscience at Brown. Her scholarly work focuses on three areas: dignity neuroscience, the human neuroscience of emotion and drug effects in the human brain. Her work in dignity science represents a new line of inquiry linking neuroscience and human rights relevant to agency, uniqueness, unconditionality, freedom from want/poverty, freedom from fear, and protections of vulnerable populations.