Tenure
September 14 – October 2
Matthew C. Nisbet
Professor of Communication, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University
Matthew C. Nisbet is a Professor of Communication, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, and a monthly columnist at Issues in Science and Technology magazine. Nisbet studies the process by which the public and decision-makers come to understand complex scientific and technological issues, analyzing the influence of ideas, politics, expertise, and culture.
He is the author or co-author of more than 80 peer-reviewed studies, scholarly book chapters, and reports, including the 2019 American Academy of Arts and Sciences report The Public Face of Science Across the World, the 2018 American Association for Advancement of Science report on Scientists in Civic Life: Facilitating Dialogue-Based Communication, and the 2017 U.S. National Academies consensus study on Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda.
Nisbet is currently completing a book with Harvard University Press to be published in 2021 that examines the influence of a special generation of public intellectuals who have helped define the major scientific and social issues of our time. By evaluating the careers of writers like Bill McKibben, Michael Pollan, Malcolm Gladwell, and Naomi Klein, the book explores the power of ideas and narratives to influence public opinion, inspire social movements, and alter political decisions.
Among awards and recognition, Nisbet has been a Visiting Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, a Health Policy Investigator at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a Google Science Communication Fellow. His 2018 edited volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication was recognized as a PROSE award finalist by the Association of American Publishers.
Nisbet’s research has been supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Barr Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation, Bernard and Ann Spitzer Trust, and Nathan Cummings Foundation. At Northeastern, he teaches courses in political communication; science, communication, and society; and climate change politics. Nisbet holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in communication from Cornell University and a B.A. in government from Dartmouth College.
Events
Friday, September 25, 2020
4:00 p.m.
LIVE ONLINE
The Quiet Mind: Science, Culture, and Contemplation in a Post-Pandemic World
During his ICE fellowship, Matthew Nisbet is researching a book length project that examines the intersections among Buddhist meditation, yoga, and stoicism; their shared histories and philosophical underpinnings; the scientific mysteries (and deep uncertainties) of how these practices might influence our mind and bodies; the reasons for their rising popularity in North America, the U.K., and other Anglo-sphere countries; and the essential lessons that these ancient traditions hold for living a better life in today’s accelerating culture and post-pandemic world. Drawing on a common stream of philosophy originating around the 6th century BCE, contemporary teachings about meditation, yoga, and stoicism share similar points of emphasis which include 1) the core problems of suffering and seeing reality clearly; 2) the transitory, impermanent nature of our lives and the events around us; 3) the recognition that our perception of reality is clouded by elaborate delusions made worse by an individualistic and consumerist society; and 4) that confused thinking and suffering can be managed by way of contemplation, self-mastery, and self-restraint. In his presentation, Nisbet will outline the emerging framework by which he is tackling the topic and present preliminary findings on how Buddhist meditation and mindfulness have been portrayed over the past four decades in the U.S. and U.K. elite press, including scientific claims about meditation’s effects on emotion, behavior, and health.
