Science, Stories, and Skepticism: How Our Brain Shapes What We Know

To inaugurate Research Day, Dr. Scott Huettel — senior associate dean for research and a professor of psychology and neuroscience in Trinity College of Duke University — will deliver a keynote address titled “Science, Stories, and Skepticism: How Our Brain Shapes What We Know” on Tuesday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m. in Magnolia Ballroom. The Honors College's Saladin Scholarship recipients will also be recognized. The event will conclude with a dessert reception. Please RSVP by April 6 via the QR code or the embedded link. 

Abstract: The human brain is a storyteller. It takes in vast quantities of information, abstracts and simplifies what it learns and builds narratives that help us make sense of our world. Scientific research depends on that storytelling each time a scientist generates a hypothesis, performs an experiment or draws a conclusion from their data. Dr. Huettel's talk will highlight how the strengths and limitations of the human brain shape how all of us — whether practicing scientists, students or everyday citizens — understand how our world works. 

Bio: Dr. Scott Huettel earned his Ph.D. from Duke University in experimental psychology and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in functional brain imaging and decision science in Duke’s School of Medicine. Dr. Huettel conducts research at the intersection of neuroscience and behavioral economics, where he seeks to discover the mechanisms of economic, social and moral decision making. He is an author of more than 180 scientific publications, including articles in Science, Nature Neuroscience, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Neuron, Psychological Science, the Journal of Marketing Research and many others. He is lead author of a primary textbook in neuroscience, Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and is a co-editor of the textbooks Neuroscience and Principles of Cognitive Neuroscience. Dr. Huettel has won the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring from the Duke University Graduate School, has been recognized as one of the top 5% of undergraduate instructors at Duke and chaired the committee that developed the new Duke undergraduate liberal arts curriculum.