Mind Wars: Brain Science and the Military

Prof Jonathan D. Moreno (University of Pennsylvania)

Jonathan D. Moreno's book Mind Wars examines the ethical dilemmas and fascinating history of cutting-edge technology and neuroscience developed for military applications. In this talk he will discuss the innovative US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the roles of the intelligence community and university science departments in preparing the military and intelligence services for the twenty-first century.  The future of national security, he argues, will depend partly on the practical applications of neuroscience to warfighter psychology, personal enhancement, methods of interrogation, and new defensive and offensive weapons systems.

About the Speaker

Moreno has authored 15 books and over 500 publications in total. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and other major media.  The American Journal of Bioethics has called him “the most interesting bioethicist of our time.”  His book, The Body Politic: The Battle Over Science in America, was named a Best Book of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews. His other books include Undue Risk: Secret State Experiments on Humans.

He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academy of Sciences and is a National Associate of the US National Research Council.  He is a member of the UNESCO International Bioethics Committee and has served as a senior staff member for three presidential advisory commissions.In 2008-09 he served as a member of President Barack Obama’s transition team.  He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, where he edits the magazine Science Progress (www.scienceprogress.org).

This event is free and open to the public.

Light refreshments will be served afterwards.