Perspective Debuts on Community Access in Connecticut

Westport, CT-July 11, 2003-Connecticut producers Steve James and Ken Swain announced the premier of a new television talk show entitled Perspective" today.

Perspective Debuts on Community Access in ConnecticutWestport, CT-July 11, 2003-Connecticut producers Steve James and Ken Swain announced the premier of a new television talk show entitled Perspective" today. Perspective is a unique series," said Steve James, Perspective co-creator and co-host. We will be addressing larger issues than most news and magazine shows. We will be looking at issues through the perspective of the Science of Humanity. This is a discipline initiated by American thinker and writer Ernest Becker. Our focus is the application of some of the most important advances in social science in the past century to contemporary issues and aspects of modern life." Our first guest, Dr. Sheldon Solomon, is an excellent person to kick off the series," said co-creator and co-host Ken Swain. He is a recognized expert, but manages to make complex concepts understandable for a general audience. He is professor of Social Psychology at Skidmore College and is co-author of 'In The Wake of 9/11, The Psychology of Terror. He is the foremost authority and co-creator of Terror Management Theory, and is a pioneer in generating empirical laboratory data in support of Ernest Beckers Theories." Dr. Solomon was enthusiastic about being the series first guest. When Ken and Steve approached me about being a guest on their show, I agreed immediately. Im a member of the Ernest Becker Foundation and our mission is to cultivate and support scholarly work that explores and extends Becker's insights. We work to disseminate to the public and other institutions the understandings that emerge from this scholarly work. Our goal is to apply these principles to the mitigation of violence and suffering in the world. 'Perspective will help us in our work to get some of these ideas and concepts into the lives of the general public."Ernst Becker was the author of 10 books including Denial of Death for which he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1974. He died of cancer at the age of 49. The Science of Humanity is a synthesis of psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and theology. It includes the work and ideas of some of the greatest thinkers in Western thought: Sigmund Freud, Soren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Otto Rank, William James, Norman O. Brown, A.M. Hocart, and Paul Tillich.Each show we will interview an expert in one of the many disciplines and works of the masters," said Mr. James. We will attempt to explore Dr. Beckers central question: 'What makes people act the way they do?"Perspective can be seen on Cablevision Channel 77 on Mondays at 9 PM in the following towns: Bridgeport, Fairfield, Milford, Southport, Stratford, Easton, Litchfield, Norwalk, Darien, Weston, Westport, Wilton, Orange, Woodbridge, Redding, Georgetown, Stamford, Cos Cob, Greenwich, New Canaan, and Riverside.PRESS CONTACT: Steve James, 203-341-9572, perspectiveinfo@juno.comNOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit The Ernest Becker Foundation website at www.ernestbecker.org.