Murdock Mind, Body, Spirit Series Presents Dr. Ellen Langer, Ph.D.

June 24, 2014

Contact: Cristal Logan
Director, Aspen Community Programs
The Aspen Institute
Cristal.Logan@aspeninstitute.org

Tel. 970-544-7929

MURDOCK MIND, BODY, SPIRIT SERIES PRESENTS DR. ELLEN LANGER, PH. D.

Aspen, CO, June 23, 2014 –– The Aspen Institute is pleased to welcome Dr. Ellen Langer to discuss her research on mindfulness and the psychology of possibility. This event takes place from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8 in Paepcke Auditorium on the Institute’s Aspen Meadows campus in Aspen, CO. The Murdock Mind, Body, Spirit series is made possible by a generous donation from Gina and Jerry Murdock. The series reflects the founding principles of the Aspen Institute – a commitment to nurturing the “whole” individual – by bringing a range of experts, innovators, and leaders to Aspen to discuss their research and to share the latest revelations about the link between mindfulness, physical activity, and emotional well-being.

Tickets are $20 each and are on sale through Aspen Show Tickets at www.aspenshowtix.com, (970) 920-5770, or at the Wheeler Opera House. As a full-capacity audience is expected for this program, early ticket purchasing is encouraged. Doors will open 45 minutes prior to the start of the event, and unclaimed tickets will be on sale at the door.

Dr. Ellen Langer, Ph.D. is a social psychologist and the first female professor to gain tenure in the Psychology Department at Harvard University. In the past 35 years, she has written 11 books and more than 200 research articles on the subject of mindfulness for general and academic readers. Her bestselling books include Mindfulness; The Power of Mindful Learning; On Becoming an Artist: Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity; and Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. Her most recent book, The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Mindfulness, is an anthology on mindfulness in which leading researchers integrate work derived from her western scientific theoretical base of mindfulness with research on eastern derived forms of meditation.

Dr. Langer has been described as the “mother of mindfulness” and has written extensively on the illusion of control, mindful aging, stress, decision-making, and health. Among other honors, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and three Distinguished Scientist Awards, the World Congress Award, the NYU Alumni Achievement Award, and the Staats award for Unifying Psychology.

The citation for the APA distinguished contributions award reads, in part, “…her pioneering work revealed the profound effects of increasing mindful behavior…and offers new hope to millions whose problems were previously seen as unalterable and inevitable. Ellen Langer has demonstrated repeatedly how our limits are of our own making.”

Dr. Langer has been a guest speaker all over the world, including Japan, Malaysia, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Switzerland, Argentina and China. 

Upcoming Events at the Aspen Institute

Thursday, July 10
McCloskey Speaker Series
The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution

President and CEO of the Aspen Institute Walter Isaacson will speak about his forthcoming book, The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, set to be released in October 2014 by Simon & Schuster.  Mr. Isaacson is the author of Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made.
Greenwald Pavilion, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Fee: $20. Tickets on sale June 26 at
www.aspenshowtix.com.

Thursday, July 17
The Susman Conversation on the Constitution and the Courts
Executive Power and the Constitution

Underwritten by Ellen Susman in honor of her husband, Steve Susman

During the 2014 State of the Union address, President Obama expressed the intention to address social issues using all the tools of his office, including executive orders, if needed. What are the powers of the President to effect policy change through executive action? What role do the judiciary and Congress play in relationship to an assertive executive branch? The conversation, moderated by CNN Senior Legal Analyst and New Yorker Staff Writer Jeffrey Toobin, will feature Charles Ogletree Jr., Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko professor of law, and Miguel Estrada, partner at Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher.
Paepcke Auditorium, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Fee: $20. Tickets on sale July 3 at
www.aspenshowtix.com.

Friday, July 18
McCloskey Speaker Series
Conversation with US Representative John R. Lewis

Congressman John R. Lewis (D-GA), civil rights leader, and co-author of the bestselling graphic memoir March: Book One (Top Shelf Productions), is the recipient of numerous awards from eminent national and international institutions, including the US’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington and a leader of the 1965 Selma–Montgomery March (known as “Bloody Sunday”), where police brutality spurred national outrage and hastened passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. His new graphic memoir trilogy, March, is a vivid first-hand account of Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement. Book One, released last year, spans Lewis’ youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall.
Greenwald Pavilion, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Fee: $20. Tickets on sale July 3 at www.aspenshowtix.com.

NOTE: Event details subject to change.  For more information on Aspen Institute events open to the public, please contact Jillian Scott at (970) 544-7914 or Jillian.Scott@aspeninstitute.org, call the information hotline at (970) 544-7970, or visit the Institute’s website at www.aspeninstitute.org/aspenevents.

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also maintains offices in New York City and has an international network of partners. For more info, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

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