Mind the Body: From the Physical Self to the Social Life

From the development of self-awareness in early life to the ways we relate to others, our mental life is scaffolded by bodily experience. Drawing on our research across psychology, neuroscience, the humanities and the social sciences, this talk explores how the experience of the body is central to our identity and social relations, and how it shapes social and political life.

Manos Tsakiris is the inaugural NOMIS Awardee. He is a professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, where he leads the Lab of Action & Body. He is also the director of the interdisciplinary Centre for the Politics of Feelings at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, an initiative inspired by the NOMIS-supported Body and Image in Arts and Science (BIAS) project, which he led from 2016 to 2022. His research explores how our bodily and emotional states shape self-awareness and our sociopolitical behavior.