Leading experts from diverse disciplines will explore sleep and sleep disorders in a conference and lecture series, “The Mystery of Sleep.” The conference “Sleep — What For? (Are You Sure You Want to Pull that All-Nighter?)” is Saturday, February 7, at 9:00 a.m. in the Humanities Auditorium. The lecture series runs from February 17 through April 14 and will be held in the Hampton Room, Malott Commons, at 4:15 p.m., unless otherwise noted. All events are free and open to the public.
This series looks at sleep as described by the sciences and social sciences, and by artists and people with sleep disorders. Sleep, which has been called “the proverbial riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” demands this variety of voices to be adequately understood.
The conference opens the series with presentations by professors Jerome Siegel, Robert Stickgold, and David Dinges. Siegel, an expert of the phylogeny of sleep and chief of neurobiology research at UCLA, will give a presentation on “Animals’ Sleep and What It Tells Us About the Function of Sleep.” Stickgold, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, will discuss the relationship between “Sleep, Learning, and Creative Problem Solving.” Dinges, professor of psychology in psychiatry and chief of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, will speak on “Sleep Deprivation: Why Do We Do It, and What Does It Do to Us?”
Speakers for the lecture series include:
- Gayle Greene, professor of English at Scripps College and author of Insomniac, on “Sleep: Gender, Class, Race (is the Sandman an equal opportunity player?),” Tuesday, February 17; “Insomnia,” Tuesday, March 3; and “Sleep and Trauma: Tales from the Battlefield,” Tuesday, April 7.
- Greg Critser, author of the critically acclaimed Generation Rx: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds and Bodies and Fatland: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World, speaks on “Over-Medicated,” Tuesday, March 10, at 7:30 p.m.
- Carol Worthman, the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Anthropology and director of the Laboratory for Comparative Human Biology at Emory College, speaks on “Sleep in Other Cultures: A Comparative View,” Tuesday, March 24.
The series ends with a special screening of Alan Berliner’s HBO documentary on insomnia, Wide Awake, Thursday, April 9, at 7:00 p.m., Humanities Auditorium; the film will be followed by Berliner’s talk, “Portrait of an Artist as an Insomniac,” Tuesday, April 14.
Schedule of Events
All events are held in Scripps College’s Hampton Room, Malott Commons, unless otherwise noted. All events are free and open to the public.
- February 17, 4:15 p.m.
Sleep: Gender, Class, Race
Gayle Greene - March 3, 4:15 p.m.
Insomnia
Gayle Greene - March 10, 7:30 p.m.
Over-Medicated
Greg Crister - March 24, 4:15 p.m.
Sleep in Other Cultures: A Comparative View
Carol Worthman - April 7, 4:15 p.m.
Sleep and Trauma: Tales from the Battlefield
Gayle Greene - April 9, 7:00 p.m.
Special Screening: Wide Awake
Alan Berliner’s HBO documentary on insomnia
Held in the Humanities Auditorium - April 14, 4:15 p.m.
Alan Berliner, portrait of an Artist as an Insomniac
Alan Berliner
For additional information, contact Scripps College Dean of Faculty Office at (909) 607-4215, or email gaylegreene@earthlink.net.