Mark Mitton is a professional magician who is fascinated by using magic to understand how we see the world. In addition to creating magic for film, television, Broadway, and Cirque du Soleil and performing in hospital wards around New York City, he explores the theme of perception from an interdisciplinary standpoint. He has presented programs on perception at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness conference in Berlin, at Columbia University, New York University, Middlebury College, and Brooklyn College, and has moderated several roundtable discussions at the Philoctetes Center, including Perception and Imagination: Masters of Theatrical Illusion and Imposters, Forgery, Fraud, and Illusion. Employing tricks, jokes, and surprises, Mitton will explore the question "What makes you trust one kind of event and not another?" in his lecture. Audience members will learn three magic tricks that reveal the inner workings of the brain, and get what they need to share the tricks with friends. They'll also take away a better understanding of the connection between motion and emotion.

Stuart Firestein received his Doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. He was at Yale University Medical School as a Research Associate and Assistant Professor before moving to Columbia in 1993, where he is now a Professor of Neurobiology and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences. Dr. Firestein has received numerous awards and has been a McKnight Scholar and Whitehall Fellow. Most recently he received the prestigious Linville-Wright Award for Research in Olfaction. His work has received support from the Human Frontiers Science Program, NATO, the Office of Naval Research and the National Institutes of Health, as well as private foundations and industry. Dr. Firestein's laboratory investigates the sense of smell, attempting to understand the molecular, genetic and physiological mechanisms that make the vertebrate nose the best chemical detector on the planet. He has published more than 50 papers in scientific journals and is the author of several popular articles and textbook chapters on smell.

Tickets: $100
(Proceeds to benefit The Philoctetes Center)
Champagne and light refreshments will be served.
To RSVP, email info@philoctetes.org.
Please include your name and the number of tickets you would like to reserve.

The Philoctetes Center is a tax-exempt organization under Section 50l(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, with private foundation status as of 2009. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent provided by law. It is always advisable that the contributor consults their personal tax advisor. A copy of our latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from us or from the New York State Attorney General's Charities Bureau, Attn.: FOIL Officer, 120 Broadway, New York, New York 10271.