The third of five annual lectures inspired by T. S. Eliot’s impact on modern literature will be given by Stephen Pinker, one of the world’s leading authorities on language and the mind and Johnstone Professor of Psychology at Harvard.  The lecture, entitled Pessimism in a World of Progress, will be followed by an interview with Will Self.

Carlo Gébler will introduce the evening and Eleanor Methven will perform ‘The Hollow Men,’ one of T. S. Eliot’s best-known poems.

More information and tickets here.

Stephen Pinker

A provocative speaker, much in demand, Steven Pinker is a cognitive scientist who has been named by TIME as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. His lectures have helped millions demystify the science behind human language, thought, and action. Pinker is a Harvard professor, a TED speaker, and a bestselling author, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

In his new book — Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress — Pinker argues that, despite fear-mongering and political upheaval, the world is getting better: peace, prosperity, knowledge and happiness are on the rise.

A native of Montreal, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has won a number of teaching prizes, and his research on visual cognition and the psychology of language has received numerous awards, including the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences.