Information for Seniors in Mind/Brain/Behavior Tracks
Fall 2009-2010
Congratulations on beginning your final undergraduate year! This letter will highlight the remaining parts of your MBB experience, which will lead to our awarding you a certificate in Mind/Brain/Behavior during Commencement Week.
Course Work
This year you must complete the course requirements for your specific MBB track, including the common courses required of all tracks. For your class, these courses include Science B-62 (The Human Mind), Molecular and Cellular Biology 80 (Neurobiology of Behavior), and an interdisciplinary seminar. If you have not yet taken a foundation course, MCB 80 is being offered this fall and Science of Living Systems 20 (Psychological Science) – the successor course to Science B-62 – is being offered both semesters. SLS 20 will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in Paine Hall in the Music Building. The first meeting, however, will take place on Thursday, September 3rd from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in Sanders Theatre in Memorial Hall. MCB 80 will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in Northwest Labs room B-103. If you have not yet taken a seminar, consult http://mbb.harvard.edu/undergrad/progjun_sem0910.php for a list of available courses; this list is more updated than information available online through the registrar's office, including changes re MBB 91, 94, and 95 (see also Recent Course Changes in the Courses scroll-down menu).
Some tracks approve alternative arrangements for these common MBB requirements, and you should consult your concentration advisor or your concentration's MBB track faculty head about such a possibility. You should also check with your concentration about your progress in meeting additional track and concentration requirements.
Thesis Work
The MBB certificate program requires you to complete an honors thesis, and we hope your research or planning is going well. MBB these are managed through your home concentration, and you will follow the rules and deadlines set by your concentration.
Supplementing your thesis work will be a series of MBB thesis workshops, which will take place in the spring after you submit your thesis. Workshop details will be available this spring.
If you received summer research funding through our Mary Gordon Roberts Summer MBB Fellows program, be sure to submit your research report as soon as possible, and no later than September 14th. The report should be about one page long and should provide an update on your project, your findings at this point, the challenges and high points of your work this summer, what you learned overall, and most importantly, how your summer research will shape or steer your thesis. You should address the report, which you may e-mail, to the Members of the Standing Committee on Mind/Brain/Behavior, c/o Shawn Harriman, 14 Story Street #404, Cambridge MA 02138. We look forward to hearing about your work as a Roberts MBB Fellow!
Special Events
The larger MBB community gathers several times each semester for a variety of exciting events. In recent years these events have included cross-disciplinary conversations, discussion of recent faculty publications, and series of lectures by distinguished guests to Harvard. As specific events are organized, we will e-mail you details and hope you will be able to join us for them.
The Harvard Society for Mind/Brain/Behavior (HSMBB)
HSMBB is an integral part of the MBB undergraduate program, and is dedicated to building a community among MBB students. HSMBB activities include regular seminars led by faculty and other researchers, communi-teas providing opportunities for students and faculty from across MBB to meet and chat, and the publication The Harvard Brain. To be informed about these and other HSMBB activities, join its mailing list at http://lists.hcs.harvard.edu/mailman/listinfo/hsmbb-list.
The HSMBB start-the-year Open House will feature faculty and advisors involved in MBB undergraduate programs, and we hope you will be able to attend. It will take place on Wednesday, September 9th from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Bechtel Room (room 107) in Emerson Hall.
Additional Information
If you have any questions about any of this or about any other MBB activities, feel free to check our website for details (http://mbb.harvard.edu) or to e-mail me (shawn_harriman@harvard.edu). The website provides details or links to track and secondary field requirements, MBB courses, research opportunities faculty and other Harvard researchers have asked us to post for undergraduates, and MBB in general. In addition, MBB sends out an e-newsletter with information updates about monthly during the academic year. If you are receiving this letter, you are on the mailing list for these newsletters.
We at MBB wish you a productive start to your final Harvard College year, and look forward to working with you this year.