A Look into the Real World – Open Seminars Set to Challenge Assumptions

Guest speakers from the world of television, literature, together with world renowned psychologists, are coming to Lincoln for a series of talks and events.

The series, which is open to everybody, will reflect a diverse range of issues and topics in which 21st century psychology has an important role.  

The University of Lincoln, UK, will be welcoming people onto campus for a series of ‘in the real world’ research talks starting on Wednesday 23 March – Wednesday 8 June with a different guest speaker each month.  

Seminar Lead and Professor of Psychology at the University of Lincoln, Timothy Hodgson said, “It’s incredibly exciting to welcome some truly world-renowned guest speakers, as well as members of the public, staff and students back onto campus in Lincoln for these seminars. 

“The talks will illustrate the vast range of real-world issues for which contemporary psychology has relevance and demonstrate how rigorous research and academic enquiry can often challenge widely-held assumptions.”

‘The fiction of memory’ will kick start the series, presented by Elizabeth Loftus from the University of California – a distinguished professor who is one of the foremost psychologists of her generation, and whose research has had a significant impact on the understanding of the human memory.  

Her seminar will look to question the validity and accuracy of memory. With over 24 books published and recipient of numerous awards, including the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Elizabeth will be explaining the fiction of memory. 

Neuropsychopharmacologist, David Nutt of Imperial College London specialises in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as, addiction, sleep, and anxiety.  

David will be bringing public and political assumptions about the relative harms of legal and illegal recreational drugs through objective analysis of real harms and risk in his talk ‘hidden casualties: how the war on drugs destroyed vital medical research.’  

Janet Treasure, professor of Adult Psychiatry at Kings College London and the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, will talk about discrimination, secrets and lies, and navigating unreliable narrators.  

With the aim to develop new treatments, Janet’s award-winning research focuses on the relationship between behaviour and the brain, with patient input. Her work has been exemplified through authoring textbooks, articles, and several self-help books for patients with triggering eating disorders.

Drawing the series to a close, will see television commentator and presenter, David Wilson, of Birmingham City University for ‘In the mind of a killer: murder and serial murder in Britain 1960 to the present day’.

Prior to taking an academic position, David was a prison governor. He regularly appears in print and broadcast media as a commentator and presenter, most recently winning the Broadcast and RTS Awards for best documentary in 2017 for ‘Interview with a Murderer.’  

Each seminar is available for members of the public to book onto. For more information about the seminars, click here: School Seminars | School of Psychology | University of Lincoln. 

 -ENDS-