V.S. Ramachandran Coming to UWEC!!!!!!!!

I learned just on Friday that Vilayanur S. Ramachandran will be speaking at the Schofield Auditorium on the UW-Eau Claire Campus as part of the University's Forum Series THIS WEDNESDAY (February 29th) at 7:30 PM!!!!

Why all the exclamation points?

Mr. Ramachandran is a world-reknowned neuroscientist who has studied some of the most interesting and puzzling brain-related phenomena AND he is a fantastic speaker. For those reasons, he has been featured on the popular TED talks series, and I'm embedding one of those below for your viewing. Even more awesome? Tickets are only $8 for the general public and $4 for students!!!

His talk, entitled The Tell-Tale Brain: a Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human (also the title of his newly released book), will feature discussion of attempts by neuroscientists to understand the brain's relation to topics like self-awareness, free-will, and consciousness.

Here's the promotional blurb included on the flyer from UWEC:

Vilayanur S. Ramachandron is a mesmerizing speaker, able to concretely and simply describe the most complicated inner workings of the brain. His investigations into phantom limb pain, synesthesia and other brain disorders have allowed him to explore--and begin to answer--the most basic philosophical questions about the nature of self and human consciousness. In his new book, The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human (2011), Ramachandran addresses the mystery of human uniqueness, in an attempt to shed light on such complex areas as self-awareness, free will and consciousness. Ramachandran is director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and an adjunct professor at the Salk Institute. TIME magazine named him one of 2011's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

But let's pretend like that's not reason enough for you disrupt the tranquility of your midwinter break and travel through the cold to UWEC to go to this AMAZING, ONCE IN A LIFETIME opportunity to see a famous neuroscientist in person.

Because of the expense, time commitment, and travel required, Mrs. Welle is willing to offer a whopping 10 POINTS EXTRA CREDIT to anyone who attends. To prove your attendance, you'll have to save your ticket stub and program to bring to school later OR find Mrs. Welle and say hello while at the event (this second part may be hard to do because of the size of the crowd).

If you would like to go, some things to keep in mind:

• Student pricing (for UW-Students and those 17 & under) is half of general admission price only until the day of the show. If you buy your tickets at the door, you'll pay $8.
• If it is REALLY important for you to get in, buy tickets ahead, either by stopping by the UWEC Service Center in Davies to pay in cash, or by calling the Service Center (715-836-3727) and paying with a credit/debit card. When I called this morning (Saturday) to reserve mine, they said only about 100 tickets are left!
• If you are calling to purchase tickets, keep in mind that seating is assigned. That means, if you want to sit with a group of friends, you should purchase them all at once. You can either have a parent call with a credit card or email Mrs. Welle for help (I would be willing to place the order for you & a group with the expectation that you pay me back in cash).
• The event is in Schofield Hall (NOT Zorn Arena, if you've been there for basketball games or Bon Iver concerts). Check campus maps to get to the right place & plan for parking time.

I apologize for not hyping this in class prior to break. I only found out about it on Friday during 7th Hour, thanks to Mr. Gagnon, who sent me the flyers for the event. :) Otherwise, I would have provided you with much more lead time and some handouts with campus maps.

My goal for the night: get an autographed copy of his book. And maybe get my picture taken with him. Don't know if that's possible, but I'm going to try. :)