BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University will host a presentation, titled “Hive Psychology and the Moral Life of Homo Duplex,” by Jonathan Haidt, professor of social psychology at the University of Virginia, and the Henry Kaufman Visiting Professor of Business Ethics at the NYU-Stern School of Business, at 5 p.m. Monday Apr. 23. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in room G008 in the Academic A building.

Haidt’s area of expertise includes the study of morality and emotion, and how it varies across cultures. He is also active in positive psychology (the study of human flourishing) and in positive emotions such as moral elevation, admiration and awe. Heidt’s presentation will explore the difference between living life at either the level of ordinary consciousness and self-interested pursuit, or at a higher state, where we lose our petty selves and become part of a larger whole.

Haidt received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992 and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago and in Orissa, India. His research focuses on morality – its emotional foundations and cultural variations.

As co-developer of the Moral Foundations Theory, and the research site, http://www.yourmorals.org, Haidt helps people understand and respect the moral motives of their enemies (see CivilPolitics.org, and his 2008 and 2012 TED talks). He was the 2004 winner of the University of Virginia “Outstanding Faculty Award.” Haidt is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom, and of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. For more information, see www.JonathanHaidt.com.

The presentation is part of the Binghamton University’s EvoS spring seminar series.  For more information, contact evos@binghamton.edu