CORDELIA FINE AU
Melbourne Business School
Monday, 23 September, 18:30-19:45, Auditorium
Delusions of gender? What women and men in science need to know about 'neurosexism'
Are men from Mars and women from Venus? Or, as some scientists suggest, are male brains inherently more predisposed to understand the world, and female brains to understand people? This talk takes a close look at the science and the sound bites, exposing both subtle and blatant 'neurosexism' - the use of neuroscientific data or language to reinforce gender stereotypes in ways that are not scientifically justified - and pointing to its harmful effects.
Biography
Cordelia Fine is an academic psychologist and writer. She has been described as a "cognitive neuroscientist with a sharp sense of humour and an intelligent sense of reality" (The Times), "a brilliant feminist critic of the neurosciences" (Times HES) and a Myth Busting Hero (CARE).
Cordelia's latest book, Delusions of gender: The real science behind sex differences was short-listed for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the Best Book of Ideas Prize 2011 and the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2010. She is a regular contributor to the popular media, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and New Statesman and wrote the introduction to the Britannica Guide to the Brain.
Cordelia studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford University and was awarded a PhD from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London in 2001. She has since held research positions at Monash University, the Australian National University, then Macquarie University. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow in Psychological Sciences and Associate Professor at the Centre for Ethical Leadership at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne.