IAS Excellence Lectures: prof. Taciano L. Milfont

The Institute of Advanced Studies invites the academic community to a series of free lectures as part of the IAS Excellence Lectures - a series of lectures delivered by internationally renowned scholars. The first session will take place on October 14.

The IAS Excellence Lectures are addressed to the entire University community, including researchers, doctoral candidates and students beyond the speakers’ immediate fields of expertise. The invited speakers present key recent advances in their fields in an accessible and inspiring way, offering opportunities to discover cutting-edge research, engage in discussion, and exchange ideas. The series fosters intellectual exchange across disciplines and contributes to a culture of research excellence at NCU. The series brings to NCU internationally renowned scholars representing the University’s Priority Research Areas.

The first lecture titled "Understanding Public Policy Through a Temporal Lens" will take place on October 14 at 5:00 p.m. at the Institute for Advanced Studies (4 Wileńska St., Room B.1.9, ground floor), and will be presented by prof. Taciano L. Milfont (University of Waikato, New Zealand). The lecture will be held in English.

Abstarct of the event: The cognitive ability to mentally travel through time allows people to project themselves backward and forward in time. Research has shown that anticipating and envisioning possible future events, and imagining ourselves experiencing those events, have important implications for health, finance, and environmental protection. While many public policies in these domains concern events that may occur decades into the future, current evidence suggests that we typically consider a much shorter temporal distance when spontaneously thinking about the future.

In this presentation, I will first provide a theoretical summary of the links between time perspective and distinct life domains, with a particular focus on environmental issues. I will then review evidence examining associations between future time perspective and environmental engagement at the individual and societal levels. Overall, I will argue that a better understanding of psychological time can improve the design and implementation of public policies.

Information on upcoming lectures and speakers will be published on the IAS website.