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All performance depends upon our abilities to create, perceive, remember, imagine and empathize. Theatre & Mind provides an introduction to the cognitive foundations of theatre studies and argues that key developments in cognitive science actually challenge some of the major assumptions about what takes place in the theatre.
All performance depends upon our abilities to create, perceive, remember, imagine and empathize. This book provides an introduction to the evolutionary and cognitive foundations of theatrical performing and spectating and argues that this scientific perspective challenges some of the major assumptions about what takes place in the theatre.
Using the theatre as a central metaphor, this text provides a flexible framework to explore the psychic realities of the characters within us. Case studies underscore how different kinds of patients construct particular fantasies as a response to the pain of earlier life scenarios.
This collection considers issues that have emerged in Early Modern Studies in the past fifteen years relating to understandings of mind and body in Shakespeare’s world. Informed by The Body in Parts, the essays in this book respond also to the notion of an early modern ‘body-mind’ in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries are understood in terms of bodily parts and cognitive processes. What might the impact of such understandings be on our picture of Shakespeare’s theatre or on our histories of the early modern period, broadly speaking? This book provides a wide range of approaches to this challenge, covering histories of cognition, studies of early modern stage practices, textual studies, and historical phenomenology, as well as new cultural histories by some of the key proponents of this approach at the present time. Because of the breadth of material covered, full weight is given to issues that are hotly debated at the present time within Shakespeare Studies: presentist scholarship is presented alongside more historically-focused studies, for example, and phenomenological studies of material culture are included along with close readings of texts. What the contributors have in common is a refusal to read the work of Shakespeare and his contemporaries either psychologically or materially; instead, these essays address a willingness to study early modern phenomena (like the Elizabethan stage) as manifesting an early modern belief in the embodiment of cognition.
How and why our brains age, and what we can do to prevent brain ageing and mental deterioration. We joke about growing old. From the viewpoint of youth, old age holds few if any rewards - at best those of increased dignity and wisdom. But as Lawrence Whalley shows in this fascinating overview of the ageing brain, we now have cause to be optimistic about old age. In surveying the prospects of slowing or even preventing the worst effects of brain ageing, Whalley looks at the development of the brain and how this is influenced by environmental factors such as diet and stress; the biological and psychological mechanisms of brain injury and disease, and the range of possible treatments and preventatives; individual differences in brain ageing, and the relative roles of nature and nurture in determining our mental abilities.
In this collection of seven provocative essays, acclaimed theatre director and playwright Mick Gordon argues that the theatre represents a physical corollary of the invisible workings of our minds. In this publication the award-winning Gordon draws upon his five years experience working with leading neurologists and cognitive psychologists, a period during which he produced two plays exploring the neurological basis of identity and emotion. Gordon contends that the narratives and archetypes common to the theatre reflect the hidden paradigms of our minds, and that theatrical exploration echos our subconscious urge for morality.
Changing The Mind of the Organization is an inspiring how-to guide for leaders of change, taking a modern look at organizational change and incorporating cutting-edge thinking on neuroscience and the role of the leader in change management. Author Chris Martlew uses over 20 years of leadership experience in the internet and ecommerce industry to inform the book, focusing on a number of areas that will help leaders develop and grow, including: Seven perspectives on human development and change. A model of how we think. How we change our minds. Four styles of change leadership including a self assessment. The essential characteristics of agile teams. The five spiral dynamics of successful change. The eight Fs of agile organizations. Changing The Mind of the Organization is an innovative book and an essential read for any business leader. Reviews for Changing the Mind of the Organization: "Chris Martlew offers delightful insights into the need for change, the nature of change, and the effects of change." Jurgen Appelo, author of Management 3.0 and CEO of Happy Melly "Pacey, challenging and concise, serving an eclectic mix of neuroscience, applied psychology and business leadership." Dr. Henk Riesmeijer, Emeritus Psychologist and Founder of SPA Consult
