The Bachelor Neuroscience at Middlebury curriculum represents the interdisciplinary nature of the field. The core Neuroscience curriculum consists of seven courses that cover the biological, psychological, and philosophical roots of neuroscience, as well as three elective courses that majors select from an array of course offerings in the three core disciplines. In addition, Neuroscience majors complete a minimum of one semester of senior work, either as part of a small seminar class or by conducting research with a Neuroscience faculty member.
The Neuroscience curriculum offers extensive hands-on laboratory experience for students as part of the major's formal coursework, senior thesis work, and student-faculty research collaborations. Neuroscience researchers at Middlebury study a wide array of topics such as adult neurogenesis, the development of alcohol tolerance, the neural bases of cognitive flexibility, neural control of behavior, sex differences in spatial processing, the physiological bases of psychological trauma, and the bases of memory.
Neuroscience Learning Goals
- Students should demonstrate a broad intellectual foundation in neuroscience, including molecular, cellular, cognitive, philosophical, and systems-level perspectives, and should understand how how those perspectives are interrelated.
- Students should understand the significance of the scientific method as a route to understanding, including the importance of objective observation, hypothesis development, experimental design, statistical analysis, analytical reasoning, and arriving at conclusions based upon evidence.
- Students should learn to critically assess neuroscience literature.
- Students should develop their written and oral communication abilities, such that they can convey the essence of neuroscience to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Students should become proficient with neuroscience research techniques.
- Because it reflects the nature of neuroscientific research, students should develop both the ability to work collaboratively, as well as independently, on scholarly projects.
