Dr. Mahzarin Banaji will be presenting a talk entitled “Mind Bugs: The Science of Ordinary Bias” on Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7:00 pm in the Wallenberg Auditorium as part of the John Kendall Lecture series.

Through studies of human thinking of the unconscious nature, assessments of self and other effects of social connections, the works of Banaji, who is currently a psychology professor at Harvard University, are based on the child and adult frame of mind, how they each correlate and their theories of individual responsibility, in addition to social justice.

Banaji’s ambition is to engage students to think beyond the normal thoughts of human nature.

Marie Walker, who is a professor in the psychology department at Gustavus and currently teaches social and abnormal psychology courses, knows a lot about the lecture. “Dr. Mahzarin Banaji is very well known for her perspective, self and manner, the unconscious beliefs, things that we are not aware of or hold,” Walker said.

Banaji was born in the town of Secunderabad, India.  She received her BA and her MA in Hyderabad and her Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Beginning in 1986, Banaji taught at Yale University as the Reuben Post Halleck Professor of Psychology. In 2001, Banaji proceeded to Harvard University, where she is a professor of social ethics in the department of psychology.

Banaji has received many awards: Yale’s Lex Hixon Prize for Teaching Excellence, a James McKeen Cattell Fund Award, the Morton Deutsch Award for Social Justice, fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, the Diener Award for Outstanding Contributions to Social Psychology and many more.

Banaji’s studies are more focused on human thinking of an unconscious nature and feeling in social affairs. Human knowledge is able to come from the underlying distinction from social outcomes. “Banaji is very influential in the psychology department through the theoretical level,” said Walker.

Marie Walker is part of the John Kendall Lecture Series. Dr. John Kendall, professor of psychology at Gustavus from 1965 to 1980, developed the lecture series to further educate students about a broader psychology viewpoint.  The lecture series is a product of Kendall’s 15 years of enthusiastic commitment and the impact he had on his students.“The goals of the John Kendall Lecture are to help inform students about important works that are going on today or future programs and to inspire students to further their interests in psychology,” Walker said. The Kendall Lecture was established in 1985 in hopes of giving students the experiences, thoughts and engaging disorientation to ask questions beyond the world.