We all know people who talk with their hands—but do they know what they’re saying with them? Our gestures can reveal and contradict us and express thoughts we may not even know we’re thinking.

In Thinking with Your Hands: How Gestures Shape Our Thoughts, esteemed cognitive psychologist Susan Goldin-Meadow, Ph.D., the Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago, argues that gesture is vital to how we think, learn, and communicate. She shows us, for instance, how the height of our gestures can reveal unconscious bias, or how the shape of a student’s gestures can track their mastery of a new concept—even when they’re still giving wrong answers. She compels us to rethink everything from how we set child development milestones, to what’s admissible in a court of law, to whether Zoom is an adequate substitute for in-person conversation.

Prof. Goldin-Meadow is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, received the William James award for lifetime achievement in basic research from the Association for Psychological Society, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005, and the National Academy of Sciences in 2020.

Goldin-Meadow will be in conversation with Carol Dweck, Ph.D. (FAN ’11, ’14), the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of psychology. Prof. Dweck is the author of the widely-acclaimed bestseller Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, which has been translated into over 40 languages. Her pioneering research on mindsets has led to important innovations in schools and businesses worldwide, innovations that have increased creativity, productivity, inclusion, and equity.

This event suitable for youth 12+. It will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel.