Annual Theme & National Meeting

Dr. Liya Yu is a neuropolitical scientist and theorist. She is the author of Vulnerable Minds: The Neuropolitics of Divided Societies (Columbia UP, 2022) and Brain Science instead of Moralizing: How neuropolitics can save us from democratic collapse (in German, Ullstein 2026, forthcoming). She was educated at the University of Cambridge, UK and Columbia University in New York, and has held teaching positions at the University of Virginia, National Taiwan University and LMU Munich. She has been described as one of the most important intellectual Asian German voices and was nominated for the Brand New Bundestag Award 2024. She currently lives in Berlin, advising government and civil society foundations on how to adopt neuropolitical strategies in city planning, sustainable architecture, education and antiracism work. In 2025, she will be teaching an interdisciplinary, first-of-its-kind neuropolitical course at the Berlin University of Arts, which will include body and artistic strategies to tackle dehumanization and polarization. She is the lead singer of the Taipei-based metal band Neuropathik, which performs brain-based, feminist lyrics dealing with the darker aspects of our brains ranging from schizophrenia to depression.

Visit her website here: https://liyayu.com/

How does a neuropolitical social contract look like for our deeply polarized societies? Based on the insights about our social brains of the past two decades, this talk draws up a political theory of how we can still reach the brains of those whom we disagree with most. The focus will be on social and political neuroscience research on dehumanization and partisanship, with a constructive proposal of how to go forward in a time when our liberal democracies are under grave threat. What are our neurocognitive vulnerabilities when it comes to humanizing out-groups, and how can a brain-based approach offer a more effective way of persuasion than the current ideological approaches on the Left and Right do? The talk outlines an urgently needed paradigm shift in our political thinking when it comes to cooperation and humanization, arguing that any successful social contract needs a brain-based foundation.  

Nu Rho Psi Chapter Activity Grants support chapter activities promoting public awareness of the brain and/or service to the community. Chapters are encouraged to organize activities around a common theme, which will be announced each spring.

Apply for a Chapter Activity Grant here: Chapter Activity Grant application

Funded Chapter Activity Grants will be featured here

The purpose of the National Theme is to give Chapters a focus and guidance in their programming for the year. The annual theme is selected by members at the Annual Meeting in the Fall.

“Neuroscientists are impacted by politics at all stages of their career, whether it’s within the academic institution or in their personal lives. Neuropolitics was selected as the Annual Theme at the 2024 National Meeting, only weeks before the U.S. election. For the 2025-2026 Academic Year, the Society wanted to focus on the importance of understanding political decision making, and its direct and indirect impacts on perception, mental health, fear, survival responses, bias, funding, and the fabric of the institutions, communities, and world to which we belong.

We hope that, by analyzing the intersection of neuroscience and political science, members will feel empowered to utilize their unique strengths, interests, and understandings of Neuropolitics to (a) apply and disseminate information to the broader contexts of societies & structures they are part of, (b) get involved and enact change at the local, state, and federal levels in the ways that are meaningful to them, and (c) strengthen the importance of scientific communication and its various intersections.”

Sincerely,
Your 2024-2025 & 2025-2026 Nu Rho Psi National Councils

Chapters may consider exploring programming that involves (a) neuroscience and mental health at the intersection of politics, public policy, and advocacy, (b) the neuroscience subspecialties of Neuropolitics, Neurolaw, and Neurosociology with a focus on political structures, political framework analysis, AND/OR (c) ways to advocate for neuroscience and mental health research, resources, and support at the local, state, and federal levels.

• Watch a lecture from UCI’s Center for Neuropolitics, and discuss as a group: https://sites.uci.edu/centerforneuropolitics/
• Host a book or journal club around Neuropolitics
• Your Brain is Built for Politics – TEDx Talk by Dr. Dan Schreiber: https://youtu.be/Ati0x7x3T40?si=7h3QTK0ldY46ZapP
• Browse the Neuroethics Today website and find a piece of media of interest to discuss: https://www.neuroethicstoday.com/
• Browse Dana’s Network x Society page on Neuroethics: https://neuroxcareers.org/neuropolitics/
• Find media/resources from the above sub-specialties and organize a watch party/engagement meeting.
• Co-host an event with on-campus clubs in political science, sociology, ethics, and law.

The Society encourages accompanying programming with political analysis – we recommend Haymarket Books for a plethora of book resources based in different aspects of political analysis, selecting political science or public policy based electives, or visiting your local libraries.