Stephen Kosslyn – Psychology and Higher Education

I am a scientist and educator. My science focuses primarily on the study of visual memory and visual communication. As an educator, I’ve focused on higher education. I was incredibly lucky to be asked to head the academic program at Minerva, which has allowed me to combine the two aspects of my work: We are motivating everything we do in the curriculum by the science of learning (which comprises discoveries about perception, memory, comprehension, knowledge acquisition, and the like).

An old chestnut: The University: An Owner’s Manual by Henry Rosovsky. This is a funny, insightful and wise reflection on the nature of universities. Although it’s a bit long in the tooth, not all that much of consequence has really changed since it was written.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. Science Fiction dominated most of my reading for many years. Science Fiction opens new worlds and stimulates you to “think outside of boxes”.

I wanted to be a scientist, and then during high school decided that I wanted to work in education–which I thought was the best lever for changing society for the better.

He wouldn’t be surprised. I haven’t changed much, either in motivations or interests (I’m not sure whether to be pleased or disappointed by that!).

A concise encyclopedia. You never can tell what you’ll want (or need) to learn next, and it’s good to start with a high-level overview.

I read on my phone when I have downtime (e.g. waiting in line, riding the subway, etc.) or during the morning when I exercise on the elliptical. I also typically read at night, before falling asleep.

Vision: A Computational Investigation into the Human Representation and Processing of Visual Information by the late David Marr. I was blown away by the elegance of his approach and his ability to integrate very different sorts of information into a single theory.

Sure! The books that my wife, Dr. Robin Rosenberg, has written–such as Superhero Origins. Robin is a clinical psychologist who uses stories about superheroes to illustrate key ideas in psychology. In addition, books by former students, such as Steven Pinker, have a special place in my heart.

Recently, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. This book is chock-full of useful insights about how the mind works and why knowing about this matters in daily life.

I prefer a combination of the two. I read non-fiction for work and general information (especially about things related to higher education). I read fiction during downtime and before going to sleep at night, which is relaxing and provides a bit of a respite. Different types of reading serve different purposes.

Absolutely! How else can you “stand on the shoulders of giants”? Reading allows you to benefit from great thinkers and great story tellers. We are blessed to live in an age where there is so much worth reading, so readily available. I cannot imagine life without reading. One of the reasons I think reading is important is that you, the reader, get to construct new worlds in your mind–this is a much richer experience, at least for me, than watching somebody else’s vision on a screen. (For some thoughts on this, see Dreaming by the Book by Elaine Scarry.)

That’s like asking which is my favourite child. I really can’t answer this question because I read different sorts of things for different purposes. If I had to identify a single book on higher ed, it would be College Disrupted: The Great Unbundling of Higher Education by Ryan Craig. This one isn’t just an attempt to guess how higher education might evolve in the future.

I use both sorts, but in different contexts: I read most non-fiction in hard copy, in part because it’s easy to write notes in the margins. I read all fiction via the Kindle app on my phone.

Syntactic Structures by Noam Chomsky. I read this early in my undergraduate career and it convinced me that mental events could and should be understood and theorized about rigorously.

Many, but let me name just three: I’m a huge fan of Derek Bok’s books, such as Higher Education in America. They are really smart. I’m also a fan of the Known Space series by Larry Niven. And just about anything by Steven Pinker, who is one of the most stimulating observers and analysts of the mind and brain.

I have a large pile, mostly on psychology and higher education.

Working Minds: The Life and Ambitions of Stephen M. Kosslyn