Our flagship project, PoeticA, funded through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014 -2021 – Norway Grants, focuses on the universal neurobiological mechanisms underpinning the feeling of pleasure engendered by reading poetry. While we examine the neurophysiological mechanisms that make poetry pleasurable and rewarding to all humans, we also look at how these mechanisms are implemented in specific cultural contexts. Ultimately, we seek to answer a question of general human interest: do biological universals favour cosmopolitanism over nationalism? Our hypothesis is that cosmopolitanism provides an evolutionary advantage over nationalism: we, humans, need novelty and exploration as well as the safety of the group, but we would rather empathise and explore than remain confined within the symmetries of nationalisms and the perception of safety they engender.
The Norway Grants funding covers our research costs, the costs of two PhD posts, the organisation of a series of public engagement events in the form of a NeuroArts Café, and costs related to setting up a MASTERS level module in Neuroaesthetics.
