Apr 8
Manship Theatre Baton Rouge, LA
TicketsEmily M. Elliott, PhD
Professor of Psychology at Louisiana State University
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind— Love, Loss, and the Brain: How Memory Shapes the Self
Program Description
Step into the beautifully fragile world of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where love, heartbreak, and memory collide! Dr. Emily M. Elliot, Professor of Psychology at Louisiana State University, will dive into the real science behind the film’s dreamlike story, exploring how our brains form, store, and reshape memories. Through the themes of love, loss, and identity, this conversation will uncover why forgetting isn’t as simple as it seems, and how even our most painful memories play a powerful role in shaping the self.
Film Synopsis
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a procedure to have each other erased from their memories. But it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.
Joel (Jim Carrey) is stunned to discover that his girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet), has had their tumultuous relationship erased from her mind. Out of desperation, he contacts the inventor of the process, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak (Tom Wilkinson), to get the same treatment. But as his memories of Clementine begin to fade, Joel suddenly realizes how much he still loves her. From acclaimed writer Charlie Kaufman and visionary director Michel Gondry, this comical and poignant look at breakups, breakdowns, and breakthroughs won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
About the Speaker
Emily M. Elliott, PhD., is a Professor of Psychology at Louisiana State University. Throughout her career, she has studied the theoretical underpinnings of working memory and attention, as well as how attention and memory interact. She has also studied sounds, which can be either helpful or hurtful to learning, depending on the situation, and the benefits of expertise afforded by musical training. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Louisiana State University. She continued her education and earned a Master of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology and a PhD in Cognition and Neuroscience from the University of Missouri, Columbia. She began her faculty career as an Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University, and she was subsequently promoted to Associate Professor and Full Professor. She serves as the Principal Investigator of the Elliott Attention Recall and Sounds lab (EARS), training undergraduate and graduate students. She has over 60 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and is a Fellow of the Psychonomic Society and of Division 3 of the American Psychological Association.