Research in an area relevant to neuroscience, under the direction of a faculty member, and preparation of a thesis based upon the research. Full course.

Fall and spring semesters. The Committee.

(Offered as BIOL 301 and NEUR 301.)  An analysis of the molecules and molecular mechanisms underlying nervous system function, development, and disease.  We will explore the proteins that contribute to the unique structure and function of neurons, including an in-depth analysis of synaptic communication and the molecular processes that modify synapses.  We will also study the molecular mechanisms that control brain development, from neurogenesis, neurite growth and synaptogenesis to cell death and degeneration.

The course will survey behavioral neurobiological systems. Students will explore recent research findings in areas pertaining to the role of neural circuits in several behavioral processes including but not limited to echolocation, mating, prey location, flight control, spatial navigation, song development in birds, mineral appetites, social functions, aggression, and learning in memory mechanisms in several species. Through instructor supervision, discussion, group presentations, and peer review, each student develops a specific research project that results in a research proposal.

Independent Reading Course. A full course.

Fall and spring semester.

Functioning as a combined seminar and performance workshop, this course explores the theory and practice of musical improvisation. Rather than focus on one specific musical style, we will define “improvised music” in an inclusive way that draws equally from American and European experimental musics, various approaches to post-1965 jazz improvisation, and several musical traditions from around the world that prominently use improvisation. Students will be encouraged to develop new performance practices drawn from and in dialogue with these diverse musical traditions.

In this course we will study and write about concertos, works for solo instrument and orchestra. From Mozart's path-breaking achievements in the form in the late eighteenth century to John Adams' recent masterpieces written at the end of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first, concertos represent some of the most important and most entertaining works in the classical music canon.

Independent Reading Course. A full course.

Fall and spring semesters.