Dr. Giordana Grossi Gives Workshop in Leiden, The Netherlands

Giordana Grossi

Giordana Grossi gave a talk titled “In search of a new language: Reconceptualizing and reworking claims of origins” at the recent “Intersectional Analysis of the Sexed/Gendered Brain” workshop at the Lorentz Center in Leiden, The Netherlands (2 – 6 March 2020).

In her talk, Grossi provided a critique of the language that psychologists and neuroscientists use when discussing issues of origins (e.g., the nature-nurture problem, innate, hardwiring, preprogramming, genetic program, blueprint). The talk discussed why these terms are problematic and why their use betrays assumptions that do not reflect or address the complexity of developmental processes. In addition, Grossi discussed key concepts of developmental system theory, an approach that provides a different perspective on how organisms develop and reworks terms such as nature, nurture, experience, and evolution. Grossi argued that dichotomies and expressions like the ones mentioned above should be dispensed with in our work if we want to introduce the audience to more sophisticated ways of thinking about development, the origins of behavior, and sex/gender.