Guide to the Focus in Mind, Brain, Behavior
For History and Science Concentrators
Science and Society Track
Honors Eligible
2009-2010
Department of the History of Science
Science Center 371
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The Focus in Mind, Brain, Behavior in the Science and Society Track offers opportunities for study that
are at once more interdisciplinary and more focused than those available to students doing a
conventional plan of study in our Department.
·
More interdisciplinary because the track requires students to take a graduated set of specially
designed or specially designated interdisciplinary courses in common with the students in all the
other MBB tracks, and also because the track offers the option of augmenting a core historical
disciplinary approach to the mind, brain, and behavioral sciences with one auxiliary social
science or humanities discipline, such as medical anthropology, public policy, philosophy of
mind, etc.
·
More focused, because it asks students to bring those interdisciplinary perspectives to bear on a
particularly vexed arena of scientific inquiry: the mind, brain and behavioral sciences. These
include, of course, the neurosciences and cognitive sciences, but also evolutionary perspectives
on behavior and cognition, relevant aspects of genetics, and such areas of medical science as
psychiatry and psychopharmacology.
This study guide offers some guidelines as you go about composing a study program in MBB. The guide
outlines the particular areas of focus you can pursue within MBB and offers suggestions for courses you
might take within those areas.
This study guide is not meant to replace the other available MBB resources or the course guides of the
various Harvard divisions. Do consult the website (http://mbb.harvard.edu) for more comprehensive
information about the MBB tracks at Harvard. Check the FAS Courses of Instruction to compile a
complete and up-to-date list of potential courses to fulfill your MBB requirements.
·
Freshman and sophomore years: take the required MBB foundation science courses (Science of
Living Systems 20 and MCB 80)
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Junior year: take an MBB interdisciplinary junior seminar (for a list of designated courses, see:
http://mbb.harvard.edu/undergrad/progjun_sem.php; attend the MBB junior year symposium
·
Senior year: enroll in a non-credit MBB senior thesis workshop
·
Throughout the concentration: integrate historical studies with an additional social science
perspective
We encourage you to take advantage of the creativity Focus in MBB offers. By proactively researching
potential courses across Harvard's divisions, and crafting focus and coherence early on, you can design a
deeply enriching intellectual experience. We are here to help you achieve these goals, so don't hesitate
to ask for our advice and counsel.
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For information or advice please contact:
Anne Harrington, Director, Focus in Mind, Brain, Behavior, Science and Society Track, History and Science
Office: Science Center 360; Email: aharring@fas.harvard.edu; Phone: (617) 496-5234
Shawn Harriman, Education Program Coordinator, Mind, Brain, Behavior Interfaculty Initiative
Office: 14 Story St., 4
th
Floor; Email: shawn_harriman@harvard.edu; Phone: (617) 384-5301
Allie Belser, Manager of Student Programs, History and Science Concentration
Office: Science Center 355; Email: ajbelser@fas.harvard.edu; Phone: (617) 495-3742