The Harvard Mind/Brain/Behavior Interfaculty Initiative and the Harvard Summer School would like to tell you about an exciting opportunity to study cognitive science in Italy during the summer! The 2012 Harvard Summer Program in Mind/Brain Sciences in Trento, Italy, is the third time we have offered this 8-week study abroad program that provides both a stimulating academic environment for learning about the mind/brain and a unique cultural experience of living and traveling with Italian college students.
Taught by faculty from the Mind/Brain/Behavior (MBB) Interfaculty Initiative at Harvard and the University of Trento, the courses include lectures, field trips, and hands-on laboratory sessions (e.g., neuroimaging demonstrations). The program features a non-credit Italian language class and the opportunity to participate in talks and presentations organized at the research center.
Students enroll in two 4-week courses. Instruction is in English. Courses run Monday through Thursday. Fridays are dedicated to program outings. The program enrolls US and Italian students to foster a cross-cultural learning environment. For the duration of the program, students are housed in University of Trento housing and are enrolled in the University of Trento meal plan. Outings and trips immerse students in Italian culture and tradition. Past events have included hikes in the Italian Alps, a weekend getaway on Lake Garda, and day or overnight trips to cities such as Venice, Verona, and Florence. On free weekends, students can organize additional trips to explore Italy (past students visited Rome and Milan in small groups). In order to share some of pictures from previous summers, we have created a Facebook page for the program - http://www.facebook.com/hsstrento. Feel free to “Like” us!
If you are interested, please visit the official Summer School webpage for Trento,http://www.summer.harvard.edu/programs/abroad/trento, which contains the most up-to-date information including deadlines, courses, and accommodations. You can also find links to funding opportunities and frequently asked questions on this page. And finally, this page links to the program application, which is now available. The application deadline is February 3rd, 2012.
The mind/brain can be studied at multiple levels of description and with various methodologies. The course reviews methods from psycholinguistics to neuroimaging, and from computational modeling to cellular and clinical neuroscience. Each method is illustrated through laboratory demonstrations. This course is mandatory for all program participants, and it is meant to provide the neuroscience and cognitive science foundation necessary to explore specific topics in the field.
Economists have produced remarkable theories describing how people make decisions, but, until recently, their approach treated the human brain as a "black box." The introduction of neuroscience tools (brain imaging, neuropsychological studies, single-cell recording) and the discovery of evidence about the importance of emotional and social states in economic decision making are revealing new perspectives in the field of behavioral economics. This new discipline combines economics, psychology, and neuroscience in order to study decision making in individual and social contexts. Students learn about economic decision-making principles (e.g., choice under risk and uncertainty, intertemporal choices, bargaining, cooperation, and competition); lectures and laboratory sessions cover contemporary theories of behavioral economics as well as the application of methods from neuroscience (e.g., single-cell recording, fMRI, TMS) to the study of decision making. Prerequisite: MBB S-101.
Film and television shows often capture the cutting edge of science, and they sometimes even anticipate future scientific advances. In this class, we’ll use examples from film and television as an introduction to several hot topics in the field of neuroscience, such as Mind Control, Mind Reading, Smart Pills, and Brain Machine Interfaces, which are all quickly moving from the realm of science fiction to reality. Will neuroscientists ever be able to control a personʼs thoughts, or to know what a person is thinking? Can taking a pill really awaken untapped brain power? Will you ever be able to drive a car without touching a steering wheel? In this course, cover the state of the art and the future of these exciting exciting areas of neuroscience (and entertainment). Because these are not textbook topics, this is an advanced course that will focus on lectures and reading the primary literature. Prerequisite: MBB S-101.