Centers for Excellence

Marist to Host Two Lectures By Best-Selling Author and Noted Scholar Robert Wright

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April 4, 2018 — Best-selling author and noted scholar Robert Wright, currently a Visiting Professor of Science & Spirituality at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, will deliver two lectures based on his writings. 

The first, “Mindfulness Meditation and the Path to a Valid Happiness,” will take place on Thursday, April 19, 7:00pm, in the Nelly Goletti Theatre; this talk is based on Wright’s most recent book, Why Buddhism Is True. Wright, drawing on Buddhist philosophy, explains how human well-being can align with a clearer view of the world and a more moral life. In the second lecture, on Friday, April 20, 11:00am, in the Fusco Recital Hall, “Why We Fight,” Wright argues that the roots of most wars and many other human conflicts lie in cognitive distortions that are built into our brains but can be neutralized if we understand them.

 

Wright’s previous book, The Evolution of God, was a New York Timesbestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His other books include The Moral Animal, which The New York Times Book Review named one of the ten best books of 1994, and Nonzero, which former President Bill Clinton called “astonishing” and instructed White House staff members to read. 

In 2009, Wright was named by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the top 100 global thinkers. Wright is a contributing editor at The New Republic and a contributor to Time and Slate. He has also written for The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Foreign Policy, and the op-ed pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Financial Times. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and his awards include the National Magazine Award for Essay and Criticism.  He has taught courses in philosophy and religion at Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania and is editor-in-chief of the websites Bloggingheads.tv and MeaningofLife.tv. 

These events are sponsored by the Office of the President. 

image of Scholar Robert Wright

About Marist

Located on the banks of the historic Hudson River and at its Florence, Italy campus, Marist College is a comprehensive, independent institution grounded in the liberal arts. Its mission is to “help students develop the intellect, character, and skills required for enlightened, ethical, and productive lives in the global community of the 21st century.” Marist is consistently recognized for excellence by The Princeton Review (Colleges That Create Futures and The Best 381 Colleges), U.S. News & World Report (9th Best Regional University/North), Kiplinger’s Personal Finance (“Best College Values”), and others. Marist educates approximately 5,000 traditional-age undergraduate students and 1,400 adult and graduate students in 47 undergraduate majors and 15 graduate programs, including fully online MBA, MPA, MS, and MA degrees. www.marist.edu

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