Project Nim (2011)

Directed by James Marsh
November 8 – Thursday – 7 p.m.
IU Moving Image Archive Screening Room, Herman B Wells Library

In 1973, a newborn chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky was taken from his mother and sent to be raised by a human family as part of a Columbia University research project. If Nim could learn human communication, it would challenge the notion of language as a unique, hard-wired trait separating humans from other animals. The documentary is a probling and emotional study of primate behavior that traces Nim’s journey within human society, and explores the complex relationships between him and his human surrogates. (93 min. Rated PG-13)

This film will be introduced by Dr. Ann Bunger (Indiana University Department of Linguistics) and a brief Q&A will follow with Dr. Bunger and Dr. Jonathon Crystal (Indiana University Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences). Dr. Crystal is a member of the Themester 2018 advisory committee and the principal investigator at the Comparative Cognition Laboratory, which is focused on developing new animal models of cognition. Dr. Bunger is teaching Animal Communications this semester with Themester advisory committee member Dr. Sachiko Koyama.

This film is part of “Themester 2018: Animal/Human.” For other events and activities exploring the interrelationship of humans and non-human animals, see Themester’s schedule at https://themester.indiana.edu/news-events/index.html