Scholar Stephen Asma to present Carleton convocation

Stephan Asma, a scholar of philosophy and human cognition, will deliver Carleton College’s convocation address on Friday, October 22, from 10:50-11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. In his presentation, titled “The Evolution of Imagination,” he will discuss the source of our remarkable imaginational capacity. 

Asma is Professor of Philosophy and Distinguished Scholar at Columbia College Chicago. In his work, he uses neuroscience, animal behavior, evolution, philosophy, and psychology to burrow deep into the human psyche and explain our unique imaginational capacity. everything from how imagination works in our physical bodies to the ways we make images, Asma shows us that our personal and day-to-day forms of imagination are one of the decisive evolutionary forces that has guided human development from the Paleolithic era to today.

Asma is the author of ten books, including Why We Need Religion, The Emotional Mind: Affective Roots of Culture and Cognition, and The Evolution of Imagination. He writes regularly for The New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and Aeon magazine. In 2014, he was a Fulbright scholar at Beijing Foreign Studies University in China. In 2018, he was awarded a three-year Henry Luce Foundation grant, The Public Theologies of Technology and Presence program. 

Asma received his BA in Philosophy from Northern Illinois University and his PhD in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University. 

Carleton convocations are free and open to the public. Masks are required. Watch recorded and archived convocations. Convocation is sponsored by Carleton College Events. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4308.