#136 Patrick Colm Hogan: Evolution, Human Universals, Arts, and Literature
Dr. Patrick Colm Hogan is Distinguished Professor of the Department of English, and the Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, at the University of Connecticut, US. His specialties are: literary theory, cognitive and affective science of literature, and world literature. He’s the author of several books, including The Mind and Its Stories, What Literature Teaches Us About Emotion, and Beauty and Sublimity.
In this episode, we talk about human universals. First, we discuss what are human universals, and how we can determine them. Then, we talk more specifically about aesthetic human universals, including their evolutionary bases; sexual selection; Individual and social experiences of aesthetics; universals in literary fiction; the social function of literature; and literature, storytelling and theory of mind.
Time Links:
What are human universals?
How do we determine them?
The evolutionary bases of aesthetics and beauty
Sexual selection for artistic behavior
Individual and social experiences of aesthetics
Modularity of mind and aesthetic response
Universals in literary fiction
The social function of literature and oral storytelling
Literature, storytelling and theory of mind
The study of innate aspects of the human mind in the Humanities
The importance of evolutionary and neuroscientific science
Follow Dr. Colm Hogan’s work!
Follow Dr. Colm Hogan’s work:
Literary Universals Project: https://literary-universals.uconn.edu/
Faculty page: https://tinyurl.com/y8py757c
Articles on Researchgate: https://tinyurl.com/y92n42be
Books: https://tinyurl.com/y7tz3fcd