Join the cast and creative team of Marjorie Prime after the evening performance on September 29th for a lively discussion of the show and its themes!

A Post-Show Discussion with Dr. Nancy Donovan

Join us for a post-show discussion following the performance of Marjorie Prime with Dr. Nancy J. Donovan, aging and memory loss specialist, as we learn about her work with the neurobiological factors that impact feelings of loneliness, social function and depression in aging, and its relation to Marjorie!

Nancy J. Donovan, MD is a geriatric psychiatrist and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) specialist in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and at Harvard Medical School. She obtained her M.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Donovan is a co-investigator in observational studies of cognition in older people at the Massachusetts General Hospital and in clinical trials research for experimental treatments for AD at the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Donovan’s own research investigates emotional and behavioral symptoms that occur during the course of AD, especially at the earliest stages of disease progression. She has received funding from the National Institute on Aging to examine neurobiological factors that impact the subjective feeling of loneliness, social function and depression in aging and early AD.

Scholar Social: Artificial Intelligence and Human Interaction

Join us for a Scholar Social after the evening performance on September 22nd with Harvard Professors Krzysztof Gajos and Barbara Grosz as we discuss Artificial Intelligence and Human Interaction both in our world and the world of Marjorie Prime!

Krzysztof Gajos is a Gordon McKay professor of Computer Science at the Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Krzysztof is broadly interested in intelligent interactive systems, a research area that bridges artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction. Some recent problems tackled by his team include helping large communities collaborate on finding creative solutions to complex problems, making digital resources accessible to people with impairments, and building tools for improving safety and efficiency of humanitarian landmine clearance. His team has also built LabintheWild.org, a web site where you can take brief tests to compare your skills and preferences to those of other people around the world (how good is your social intelligence? how well can you multitask?). Prior to arriving at Harvard in 2009, Krzysztof was a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research. He received his Ph.D. in 2008 from the University of Washington and his M.Eng. and B.Sc. degrees from MIT. In the Fall of 2005, he was visiting faculty at the Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana, where he taught Introduction to Artificial Intelligence.

Barbara Grosz is Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University. She was founding dean of science and then dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She is known for pioneering research in natural language processing and in theories of multi-agent collaboration and their application to human-computer interaction, and is recognized for her role in the establishment and leadership of interdisciplinary institutions and for her contributions to the advancement of women in science. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Philosophical Society, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, she is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and the Association for Computing Machinery. She received the 2009 ACM/AAAI Allen Newell Award and the 2015 IJCAI Award for Research Excellence, AI’s highest honor.

Scholar Social: The (Care)Givers

Join us for a special Scholar Social with A. Michael Bloom, President of Bloom Coaching and Performance, as we talk about the role of the caregiver in Marjorie Prime.

A. Michael Bloom, MA, MS, Author, Coach, Speaker, and Caregiving Without Regret™ Expert. Michael has helped to revitalize the careers of hundreds of family and professional caregivers with practical, tactical soul-saving coping strategies and supports them in saving lives, including their own. Michael is the author of the book, The Accidental Caregiver’s Survival Guide:Your Roadmap to Caregiving Without Regret. You can learn more about the book, access free caregiving resources, and Michael’s coaching and speaking services at http://www.caregivingwithoutregret.com/

Dialogue in the Digital Age

Join us for a post-show conversation with MIT Professor Sherry Turkle as we discuss the evolution of relationships and communication in this modern, digital age!

Sherry Turkle is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT. Professor Turkle received a joint doctorate in sociology and personality psychology from Harvard University and is a licensed clinical psychologist.

Her newest book is the New York Times bestseller, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age (Penguin Press, October 2015), which investigates how a flight from conversation undermines our relationships, creativity, and productivity.

Previous works include a trilogy on our evolving relationships in digital culture, The Second Self, Alone Together, and Life on the Screen and, as well as works and edited collections on how we use objects to think with, particularly in the development of ideas about science: Simulation and Its Discontents , Evocative Objects, Falling for Science, and The Inner History of Devices.

Turkle is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship, the Harvard Centennial Medal, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.