Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

See the Conversations with History Blog See a webcast of this interview: Ekman

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Paul Ekman, who is a professor of psychology at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California Medical School in San Francisco. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association. He's the author of fourteen books; most recently, Emotions Revealed.

1. Background ... influence of parents ... education ... interest in psychotherapy ... helping people ... service in military ... decision to go into research
2. Developing the Science ... intellectual mentors ... Pentagon funding for early research ... faces: nature or nurture? ... facial gestures ... themes and variations ... display rules ... triggers ... development of FACS ... methodology ... work of Duchenne
3. Implications of Research ... distinguishing intentions from emotions ... need for medical personnel to read emotions ... Othello's error ... concealment and deception ... face versus words ... display rules ... micro-expressions ... musculature ... new frontier of voice research
4. Consulting on the Face ... the Dalai Lama ... studying the effects of meditation ... helping the Pentagon and police forces avoid misidentification ... choosing to help, not harm ... naturally gifted face-readers
5. Lessons Learned ... understanding emotional life ... businesslike demands of modern social life ... doing research

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