(]11RRI(]1)1.11M ........vitae
Professor's gone to the dogs
ROBERTA STAtEY STAFF REPORTER
Curriculum vitae features niembcm of the LuverMain-landJewish community who have/gained recoffiiition nationally or internationally for their achievements.
For an internationally acclaimed academic and cutting-edge researcher, Dr. Stanley Coren's a pretty sappy guy.
Of course, only a robot wouldn't melt when Dr. Coren's inky-black canine, Odin, looked at you with his soulful, red-rimmed, puppy eyes.
And Dr. Coren is human, very human. The floppy-eared, flat-coated retriever in his doggy-scented University of British Columbia oflice is often treated to cuddles and kisses by the coi-pulent p.sychology pmfes.sor, whase conversation is spiked with such terms of endearment as: "Good Odin. Down. Yes, that's a good baby..."
nut then, someone who.se curriculum vitiie is nearly as thick as a liook doesn't need to impi-ess anyone. Dr. Coren has had a remarkable academic career stre'tching back 30 yeai^s to when the Stanfoi-d Univereity alumnus went on to post-gi'aduate studies in New York City. Even back then, he was considered "a bit of a wunderkind." He re-opened an area of psychology associated witli visual illusion and visual distortions. But young, restless and unhappy with living in the Big Apple, he began sniffing out new universities, settling upon the fledgling psychology department at UBC.
Despite an acclaimed career. Dr. Coren hijs a natural bonhomie that helps him avoid the pomposity that could easily strike someone who has written about 20 books and nearly 300 research papers for such august publications as the Journal of Experimental Psychology, Science and Nature.
But he would still be unknown to the layman, despite his prolific pen, if it were not for his ability to write about science with a style and flair that turned his research into good reading.
This has also made him a media darling since his fust big seller, The left-hander syndrome: the causes and consequences of left-handedness, was published in
Doggone: Or. Stanley Coren gets a kiss from Odin.
1992. Dr. Coren's research showed that left-handei-s are at a significant disiidvantage in com-pari.son to the right-handed majority. For one thing, they tend U) die younger.
He also wrote the 1996 book Sleep Thieves: An Eye-Opening Explomtion into the Science and Mysteries of Sleep, which told us what we suspected all along. "As a society we're chronically sleep deprived and basically it's making us clum.sy, stupid, unhappy and dead," said the 55-year-old father of two gn)wn children.
But the book that everyone seemed to lap up was the 1994 publication The Intelligence <>f I)t)fis: Canine Consciousness and Capahilities.'Thxn launched him to the front pages of newspa|K*rs such as U.SA. Tcxlay and the Anfjeles Times. He was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and lAxny King. American networks such as ABC sent a TV crew to Vancouver to intemew him.
Dr. Core'n denies he is a media hound. His popularity has a lot t« do with his credibility a.s a scientist. "I just tell stories about dogs and present data on them," said Dr. Coren, whose dog book has been translated into 18 languages.
Dr. Coren's canine research is largely based upon close work with a vfuiety of breeds. It is a labor of love. "I talk to my dogs all the time," said Dr. Coren. "Dogs have roughly the intelligence of a two-year-old human. TTie average dog can understand about 165 words. And that's not bad by animal standards."
The encore to The Intellifiemv ofDofis is What Do I)of<s Knowf published last month by Free Press. The lKK)k, said Dr. Coren, has psychological overtones. He explores the personality of jxH)ple who pick particular breeds of dogs, di.scovering .some oddities that defy stereotyjK's.
For example, former British prime minister Winston Churchill looked like he would have a bulldog tagging along at his lu-eis. Quite the opiXKsite. "He had poodles," Di-. Coren guffawed.
Moreover, Mr. ('hurchill was quite maudlin alx)ut his p(KK.hes. While watching a TV version of the C^harles Dickens novel Oliver Twist,ii hapless mutt met a grisly end. Mr. Churchill "had Rufus on his lap and re|Jortedly he covered the dog's eyes and said: 'Don't l(X)k dear. I'll tell you all about it later.'"
Dr. Coren's wide-ranging interests also extend to the Jewish community, where he is active with the Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society and tlie Combined Jewish Appeal annual fund-niis-ing campaign.
A self-described "cultural Jew" who grew up in an Orthodox home. Dr. Coren said religion is an important aspect of any s<x;i-ety. "We have to give something which gives us a system of ethics. We don't have a school system or government which does that," said Dr. Coren.
"I believe that the Boss exists and I think religion is the pipeline by which we speak to him," added the scientist. U
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