In the afternoon of November 17, 2021, Professor Zhou Renlai, Head of Department of Psychology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, gave a lecture on “Why Do People Obey Authority” in the Guosheng Lecture Hall of Kuang Yaming Honors School.

This was the first humanities lecture in this year’s Lectures by Famous Professors. The lecture focused on the Milgram experiment, a study of obedience in psychology.

Professor Zhou started with a case study to introduce the topic of obedience to authority. He then elaborated on the Milgram experiment’s background, purpose, methods and results. During the lecture, he also showed students the video of the experiment back then, making everyone feel their presence at the actual experimental site.

At the end of the lecture, students actively expressed their opinions and interacted with Professor Zhou. He responded one by one to the questions raised by the students about personal reflections on obedience to authority, the connection between psychology and brain science & neuroscience, and the research validity of psychology. At last, he encouraged them to apply what they have learned to psychological studies to promote the development of psychology and brain science.