Science on Screen Presents GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER March 2, 2009

Science on Screen at the Coolidge Corner Theatre pairs Stanley Kramer’s groundbreaking 1967 film with a talk on the science of prejudice by Harvard University social psychologist Mahzarin Banaji.

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER features Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as the Draytons, a liberal-minded couple whose progressive leanings are put to the test when they discover their daughter's fiance is black. Sydney Poitier stars as the successful and respected Dr. John Wade Prentice, who challenges the the Draytons' preconceived notions during dinner one evening. The film earned Oscars for Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose.

Guest speaker Mahzarin Banaji has spent over 20 years studying the implicit and explicit prejudices of both adults and children. Her findings have uncovered that all of us carry unconscious attitudes about race, age and gender that sometimes run contrary to our admitted beliefs. Her groundbreaking research includes the use of methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the Implicit Association Test (IAT), a quiz that uses word and image associations to measure bias.

Official Website: http://www.coolidge.org/science