There has been some discussion about the possibility of creating a new
undergraduate major in neuroscience at Mason. The notion is for a
rigorous curriculum that emphasizes strength in mathematics, physics
and chemistry, while at the same time offering honors research
experiences, possibly in collaboration with laboratories at HHMI and/or
NIH. Ann Butler is currently chairing a committee of faculty to look
very carefully at this idea with the plan of eventually developing a
proposal for the new major.
In the next several blog entries, I’m going to attempt to make my own
case for why I think this is a good idea for the University and for
Krasnow. The aim is not to formally advocate for the new undergraduate
neuroscience major, but rather to open a window into my own
perspectives and thoughts on this issue with the hope that it will
inform future discussions.
I’m also writing these words, serving the last year of my three year
term, on the Society for Neuroscience’s Public Information Committee.
Over that term, I’ve developed an appreciation for the how the public
perceives neuroscience as a field and I think that perception is quite
important into how successful such a major might be, over the long
haul.
I should begin with a short discourse on my own Alma Matter, Amherst
College (www.amherst.edu). Amherst, a liberal arts college in western
Massachusetts created a neuroscience major quite early on, relative to
many other places. That program has been characterized by three
important threads: (1) rigorous quantitative background, (2) intense
student research experiences and (3) integration with a liberal arts
curricular tradition. Over the many summers, I’ve taken many
undergraduate students from Amherst’s neuroscience program into my own
laboratory at various places ranging from here at the Marine Biology
Laboratory in Woods Hole to NIH. All of those students demonstrated an
incredible knack for conducting sophisticated bench-top science and
more importantly for thinking about neuroscience in a critical
manner–something that is more consistent with an advanced graduate
student, rather than a college senior.
While my own years at Amherst pre-dated the establishment of the
neuroscience major (I majored in chemistry), these ideas of
quantitative background, research experiences and deep integration with
a liberal arts curriculum were all present and play an important role
in my own ideas of what such a major might look like at Mason.
Next time, I’ll talk about how such an undergraduate program might
complement our existing doctoral degree.
Jim
Discoverers and Discoveries 