The Science of Emotional Awareness
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Paul Ekman, the world's foremost expert on facial expressions and a professor emeritus at the UCSF School of Medicine, lectures on a landmark conversation between him and Tenzin Gyatzo, the 14th Dalai Lama, as it is documented in the new book, Emotional Awareness: Overcoming Obstacles to Psychological Balance and Compassion (Henry Holt & Co., 2008).
Ekman's research on facial expression and body movement, begun in 1954, led to his development of the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to taxonomize every conceivable human facial expression. In addition to his basic research on emotion and its expression, he has studied deceit for the last 30 years.
Currently, he is the director of the Paul Ekman Group, LLC, a small company that produces training devices relevant to emotional skills, and is initiating new research relevant to national security and law enforcement.
Articles reporting on Dr. Ekman's work have appeared in Time Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, Psychology Today, The New Yorker and others, both American and foreign. Numerous articles about his work have also appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and other national newspapers.
He has appeared on 48 Hours, Dateline, Good Morning America, 20/20, Larry King, Oprah, Johnny Carson, and many other TV programs. He has also been featured on various public television programs such as News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and Bill Moyers' The Truth About Lying.