“Attention: Perspectives from Neuroscience, Art, and Literature”

The “Attention” series explores the dynamics of how, why, and what we focus on shapes our reality and creates our purpose. Also known as concentration, alertness, focus, notice, awareness, heed, regard, and consideration—Attention is the fundamental cognitive ability to sustain one’s energy on a specific pursuit or thought.
The OHC’s 2025–26 Robert D. Clark Lectureship features three UO faculty members discussing, from their own perspectives, how attention connects us to others and allows us to experience the world around us.
Santiago Jaramillo is an associate professor in the Department of Biology and the Institute of Neuroscience. His lab studies auditory cognition—how the brain helps us hear the world (recognize sounds, pay attention to sounds, remember sounds, etc). Their research is performed on mice so advanced techniques can be utilized to measure individual neurons of different classes and change their activity with high precision. While their work focuses on the healthy brain, rather than any specific disorder, their studies can help others understand and address disorders related to hearing (tinnitus, auditory processing disorders, age-related hearing loss, etc) and inspire better artificial hearing systems.
Kate Mondloch is a professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory. Her research interests focus on late 20th- and early 21st-century art, theory, and criticism, particularly as these areas of inquiry intersect with the cultural, social, and aesthetic possibilities of new technologies. Her research fields include media art and theory, installation art, feminism, new media, science and technology studies, digital humanities, human flourishing, and mindfulness in higher education. She is especially interested in theories of spectatorship and subjectivity, and in research methods that bridge the sciences and the humanities.
Forest Pyle is a professor of English and Cartoon and Comics Studies. His interests include 19th-century British Literary Studies, Literary and Critical Theory, Poetry and Poetics, Postmodern and Contemporary Literary Studies, and Visual Culture. His current research project explores the persistence and extensions of Romanticism in some of the more adventurous forms of contemporary music, art, film, and literature.